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FROM   THE  LIBRARY  OF 
REV.    LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,   D.  D. 


BEQUEATHED   BY  HIM  TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


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h\r: 


FIFTY  NOTABLE  YEARS. 


"And  I  saw  that  there  was  an  Ocean  of  Darkness  and  Death;  but  an  infinite  Ocean  of 
Light  and  Love  (lowed  over  the  Ocean  of  Darkness  ;  and  in  th:it  I  saw  the  infinite  Love 
of  God."—  George  Fox's  Journal. 

"  I'niversalism  was  the  evening  .star  of  the  church  as  the  night  of  the  dark  ages  came 
on,  and  appeared  as  the  morning  star  at  the  dawn  of  the  Reformation." 

Thomas  Whittemore,  D.D. 


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/'  s  c 


J  APR  23  1932  * 

TABLE        Ei%60/CM  se^ 


VIEWS 


MINISTRY  OF  CHRISTIAN  UNIVERSALIS! 


DURING    THE   LAST   HALF-CENTURY. 


Biograpljtcal    Sketches* 
By    JOHN    G.    ADAMS,    D.D. 


ILLUSTRATED    WITH     PORTRAITS. 


BOSTON: 
UXTVERSALIST   PUBLISHING   HOUSE. 

1882. 


Copyright,  1SS2, 
By  Universalist  Publishing  House. 


University  Press: 
JonN  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge. 


PREFACE. 


Every  intelligent  reader  of  that  expressive  line  of 
Longfellow,  "  Let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead,"  under- 
stands that  if  "the  dead  past"  may  be  buried,  as  it 
deserves  to  be,  the  living  past  will  be  remembered, 
recorded,  celebrated,  honored  in  all  time  to  come.  It 
is  well,  always,  that  we  have  our  eyes  open  to  this 
fact. 

Among  the  many  voices  heard  in  the  discussions 
going  on  in  the  religious  world  during  the  last  half- 
century,  has  been  that  of  Christian  Universalism.  It 
is  still  speaking  more  emphatically  and  widely  than 
ever.  A  brief  and  comprehensive  notice  of  its  mani- 
festations is  surely  worthy  of  consideration  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  It  is  the  intent  of  this  volume  to  keep  in 
sacred  remembrance  some  of  the  preachers  and  defend- 
ers of  the  Gospel  of  God's  impartial  grace,  who  in  times 
when  it  was  frowned  upon  and  misrepresented  in  and 
out  of  the  churches,  had  the  Christian  courage  and 
loyalty  to  avow  and  maintain  it.  They  have  made  the 
past  not  "  dead,"  but  gloriously  alive  in  their  faith  and 
works. 

In  addition  to  the  biographical  sketches  here  given, 
other  kindred  matter  of  interest  to  the  general  reader 


li  PREFACE. 

will  be  presented,  such  as  the  rise  and  progress  of  the 
Universalist  church  in  America ;  its  growth  in  agree- 
ment with  the  genius  and  civilization  of  our  republic  ; 
its  place  in  the  reformatory  work  of  the  last  fifty  years  ; 
its  present  status  ;  its  educational  resources  and  aspects  ; 
its  definite  organized  work;  its  missionary  spirit  and 
intent,  with  an  outlook  into  the  future. 

The  reader  will  understand  that  the  views  here  taken 
are  from  the  standpoint  of  a  New  England  minister's 
observation,  and  do  not  embrace  particulars  which  a 
wider  survey  might  have  included. 

Furthermore,  the  author  would  say,  that  in  the  ac- 
count of  ministers  here  given,  nothing  like  a  complete 
biographical  encyclopaedia  is  intended  ;  hence,  he  does 
not  consider  himself  responsible  for  what  is  not  in  the 
volume,  but  presents  it  as  it  is,  with  a  thankful  heart 
that  he  is  able  in  this  humble  effort  to  vindicate  the 
faithful  dead,  and  to  address  the  living  in  behalf  of 
that  cause  which  they  honored  and  promoted. 

J.  G.  A. 

Melrose  Highlands,  November,  1882. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE   WORLD'S    PROGRESS. 

PAGE 

The  Century  just  passed.  —  Last  Half-century  and  Changes  in  it.  — 
Words  of  Rev.  Dr.  Macleod  and  Governor  Long.  — Moral  Prog- 
ress ;  Hopeful  View.  —  Enlargement  of  Religious  Thought.  — 
Christianity  a  Universal  Religion.  —  Words  of  Dr.  Uhlhorn  and 
Dean  Milman 13 

CHAPTER   II. 

CHRISTIAN   UNIVERSALIS!!. 

The  Name;  what  it  indicates.  —  Ancient  Universalism.  —  Dr.  E. 
Beecher's  Testimony.  —  Statements  of  Others.  —  Mr.  Lecky 
and  Dr.  Shaff.  —  Universalism  of  the  Present  Time. — In  Eu- 
rope       19 

CHAPTER   III. 

UNIVERSALIS!!    IN    AMERICA. 

Its  Rise  with  the  Republic.  —  Declaration  of  Independence.  —  Its 
Christian  Signification.  —  Mr.  Bancroft's  Statement. — Spirit  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  Republic.  — Nature,  Unity,  Interest,  and 
Destination  of  the  one  Family  of  Man.  —  Speech  of  Dr.  T.  Whit- 
temore.  —  Murray  in  Faneuil  Hall 23 


IV  COXTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

EARLY  ADVOCACY   OF   UNIVERSALIS!!   IN   AMERICA. 

PAGE 

Murray  and  De  Benneville.  —  Universalists  as  a  separate  Sect,  and 
Reasons  for  it.  —  Statement  of  Rev.  Dr.  J.  H.  Tuttle.  —  Murray's 
Associates  in  the  Ministry. —  Their  Characteristics. —  State- 
ment of  Rev.  Dr.  J.  Smith  Dodge. — Description  by  Rev.  Dr. 
A.  D.  Mayo 30 

CHAPTER   V. 

GROWTH. 

Ministers  at  the  beginning  of  the  Present  Century.  —  Statement  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Miner.  —  Educational  Aids  and  Publications.  —  Mur- 
ray Centenary  Fund.  —  Woman's  Centenary  Aid  Association.  — 
Theological  Changes.  —  Calvinism,  Arminianism,  Universalism. 

—  Evidences  of  the  Influence  of  the  Latter  in  these  Changes. — 
Orthodox  Concessions 36 

CHAPTER   VI. 

UNIVERSALISM,    UNITARIANISM,    RATIONALISM. 

Liberal  Christianity.  —  Indecision  of  Unitarians  respecting  the  Sal- 
vation of  All.  —  Ballou  on  Atonement.  —  Bold  Vindication  of 
their  Faith  by  Universalists.  —  Tribute  to  Unitarianism.  —  Its 
Defects.  —  Mr.  Parker's  Influence.  —  Difficulty  in  answering  a 
Question.  — Disavowal  of  Mr.  Parker's  Rationalism  by  Univer- 
salists.—  Resolutions  of  Boston  Association.  —  Mr.  Parker  re- 
viewed by  Rev.  0.  A.  Skinner  and  Rev.  Dr.  Lothrop.  — Discus- 
sions respecting  Christian  Fellowship. — Dr.  Ballou's  Article  in 
Universalist  Quarterly;  never  Answered.  —  Mr.  R.  W.  Emer- 
son and  his  Testimony  to  Universalism 42 

CHAPTER  VII. 

REFORM    MOVEMENTS    AND    UNIVERSALISM. 

Universalist  Reform  Association.  —  First  Meeting,  and  Festival  Ad- 
dresses.—  Continuation  of  Meetings,  a  Feature  of  Anniversary 
Week.  —  Anti-Slavery  Resolutions.—  Festivals  in  Faneuil  Hall. 

—  Rendition  of  Burns  ;  Notes  of  Freedom  on  the  Occasion     .     .      50 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

NEW    ENGLAND    ANTI-SLAVERY    SOCIETY;    UNIVERSALIST 
PROTEST. 

PAGE 

Mr.  Garrison  and  His  Associates.  —  Marlboro  Chapel,  "  Eloquence 
dog-cheap  there." — The  Debaters. — Rev.  John  Pierpont  and 
his  Remarkable  Plea. — Wendell  Phillips's  Reply  to  it.  —  Mobs 
in  Boston  and  at  Concord,  N.  H.  —  Denunciatory  Spirit.  —  Anti- 
Sabbath  Convention.  —  N.  P.  Rogers  and  the  "Herald  of  Free- 
dom."—  Momentum  of  the  Anti-Slavery  Reform.  —  Political 
Changes. —  War  of  the  Rebellion  and  Downfall  of  Slavery. — 
Universalist  Churches  in  this  Reform.  —  Protest  of  Ministers 
against  Slavery 58 

CHAPTER   IX. 

REFORMATORY    PROGRESS. 

The  Temperance  Reform.  —  Its  Rise  and  Course  in  the  Past ;  Its 
Present  Aspects.  —  The  Peace  Question.  —  War  Spirit  of  the 
Past  contrary  to  Christianity.  —  Growth  of  the  Christian  Idea.  — 
Peace  Publications.  —  Sumner's  Oration.  —  National  Disputes 
can  be  settled  by  Arbitration  ;  Instances.  — Victor  Hugo's  Words. 
—  Treatment  of  Criminals.  —  Capital  Punishment.  —  Position 
and  Work  of  Woman.  —  Other  Questions G6 

CHAPTER   X. 

THE    UNIVERSALIST    CHURCH   AND   ITS   WOMEN. 

Some  of  the  Gifted  Authors.  —  Women  Workers  in  the  Churches, 
Pulpits,  and  Educational  Institutions.  —  Organized  Effort.  — 
Woman's  Centenary  Aid  Association.  —  Its  Work  in  the  Cen- 
tennial Year.  —  Tribute  from  the  "  Christian  Leader."  —  Work 
of  the  Association  since.  —  Mrs.  C.  A.  Soule  and  the  Scotland 
Mission.  —  Church  in  Glasgow.  —  Circulation  of  Church  Liter- 
ature     79 

CHAPTER    XT. 

SKETCHES    OP    MINISTERS. 

Hosea  Ballou.  —  Hosea  F.  Ballon.  —  Massena  Ballou.  —  David  Bal- 
lou.  —  Moses  Ballou.  —  Hosea  Ballou,  D.D.  —  Levi  and  W.  S. 
Ballou.  —  Edward     Turner.  —  Sebastian     Streeter.  —  Russell 


vi  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Streeter.  —  Thomas  Jones.  —  Paul  Dean.  —  Walter  Balfour.  — 
John  Bisbe.—  Thomas  Wliittemore,  D.D.  — Benjamin  Wliitte- 
more,  D.D.—  Dolphus  Skinner,  D.D.  —Warren  Skinner.  —  Otis 
A.  Skinner,  D.D.  —  Samuel  P.  Skinner. —Joseph  O.  Skinner. 

—  Nathaniel  Stacy.—  Stephen  R.  Smith.  —  Sylvanus  Cobb,  D.D. 

—  Menzies  Rayner 84 

CHAPTER   XII. 

Thomas  F.  King.  —  Thomas  Starr  King.  —  Abel  C.  Thomas.  —  S. 
W.  Fuller.  —  William  A.  Drew.  — I.  D.  Williamson,  D.D. — 
Kittredge  Haven.  —  John  Boyden.  —  John  Moore.  —  Henry  Ba- 
con. —  D.  K.  Lee,  D.D 129 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

George  Bates.  —  Ezekiel  Vose.  —  Lemuel  Willis. — John  H.  Willis. 

—  Theodore  Clapp.  — John  A.  Gurley.  —  Enoch  M.  Pingree.  — 
Thomas  J.  Greenwood. —  Elbridge  Ger^  Brooks,  D.D. — Eb- 
enezer  Fisher,  D.D. — Rev.  Seth  Stetson.  —  William  Bell. — 
Calvin  Gardner 152 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

Josiah  Gilman.  —  Emmons  Partridge.  —  William  I.  Reese.  —  Al- 
bert A.  Folsom.  —  William  C  Hanscom.  —  Merritt  Sanford.  — 
Alexander  R.  Abbott.  —  Henry  C.  Leonard.  —  Abraham  Nor- 
wood. —  Charles  Spear.  —  James  W.  Putnam.  — James  W.  Den- 
nis.— Henry  B.  Soule.  —  Obadiah  II.  Tillotson 168 

CHAPTER   XV. 

Elhanan  W.  Reynolds.  —  Nathaniel  Gunnison.  —  John  M.  Austin. 

—  Tobias  H.  Miller.  —  Martin  J.  Steere. — Franklin  S.  Bliss.— 
Russell  Tomlinson.  —  De  Witt  C.  Tomlinson.  —  Levi  C.  Marvin. 

—  Giles  Bailey. — John  E.  Palmer.  —  William  W.Wilson. — 
William  R.  Chamberlain 181 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

Samuel  C.  Loveland.  —  David  Pickering.  —  George  Rogers. —  Lewis 
F.  W.  Andrews.  —  Charles  W.  Mellen.  —  Henry  A.  Eaton.  —  W. 
A.  P.  Dillingham.  — John  G.  Bartholomew,  D.D.  —  E.  II.  Chapin, 
D.D. — Joseph  D.  Pierce.  — Thomas  J.  Carney.  —  James  M.  Cook     199 


CONTENTS.  vii 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

W.  Bruce.  —  Frederick  A.  Hodsdon.  —  Ezekiel  W.  Coffin.  — 
Edward  A.  Drew.  —  Norris  C.  Hodgdon.  —  8.  P.  Landers.  — 
John  Nichols.  —  Robert  Killain.  —  Charles  II.  Webster.  —  Asa 
P.  Cleverly.  —  Thomas  J.  Whitcomb.  —  George  W.  Whitney.  — 
Robinson  Breare 221 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

Zadoc  H.  Howe.  — Willard  C.  George.  —  Mark  Powers.  —  L.  L.  Rec- 
ord. —  H.  H.  Baker.  —  James  W.  Ford.  —  E.  H.  Lake.  —  L.B. 
Mason.  —  Lafayette  Barstow.  —  Stillman  Barden.  —  T.  J.  Ten- 
ney.  —  C.  II.  Dutton.  —  Robert  Bartlett 232 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

Rufus  S.  Pope.  —  W.  M.  De  Long.  —  W.  B.  Linnell.  —Joshua  Brit- 
ton.  —  George  Messenger.  —  John  T.  Goodrich.  —  Franklin  C. 
Flint.  —  Hope  Bain.  —  Woodbury  M.  Fernald.  —  C.  P.  Mallory. 
—  Elvira  J.  Powers.  —  Fanny  U.  Roberts.  —  Prudy  Le  Clerc 
Haskell. —  Living  Ministers:  C.  F.  Le  Fevre,  D  D  — Lucius  R. 
Paige,  D.D.  —  A.  A.  Miner,  D.D.  —  Thomas  J.  Sawyer,  D.D.  — 
Thomas  B.  Thayer,  D.D.  —  William  S.  Balch,  D.D.  —  William 
H.  Ryder,  D.D.  —  Birthplace  of  Rev.  H.  Ballou 257 

CHAPTER   XX. 

EDUCATIONAL    AIDS. 

Universalism  and  Education. —  Tufts  College.  —  Lombard  Univer- 
sity. —  St.  Lawrence  University.  —  Buchtel  College.  —  Clinton 
Liberal  Institute.  —  Dean  Academy.  —  Goddard  Seminary.  — 
Westbrook  Seminary.  —  Green  Mountain  Perkins  Institute.  — 
Other  Aids.  —  The  Sunday  School.  —  Church  Literature.  —  A 
Sensible  and  Urgent  Appeal 293 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

THE    LAITY. 

Needed  Support  of  the  Ministry  ;  how  the  Laity  can  render  it.  — 

Instances  noted 302 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XXII. 

THE    PRESENT    OUTLOOK. 

PAGE 

Changes.  —  The  Episcopal  and  Congregational  Churches.  —  The 
Beecher  Family.  —  Congregationalists  at  Plymouth  in  18G5. — 
Question  of  the  Divine  Responsibility.  —  Dr.  Patton,  Rev.  John 
Miller,  Miss  Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps.  — Orthodoxy  at  Andover. 
—  Questions  respecting  it.  —  Expedients  to  avoid  the  Admission 
of  Eniversalism.  —  Prophecy  of  Rev.  Dr.  Hosea  Ballou.  —  A 
late  Acknowledgment  of  its  Truthfulness.  —  Spirit  of  Inquiry 
among  the  Sects.  —  Spurgeon's  Words.  —  The  World  and 
Church  moving.  —  Growth  of  our  Nation  during  the  Last  Half 
Century.  —  Words  of  Hon.  R.  C.  Winthrop  at  Yorktown. — 
Work  of  the  Universalist  Church  Now  and  Henceforth. —  A  Pos- 
itive Faith.  — The  Creed  Question  noted. —  A  True  Christian 
Life.  —  Missionary  Inspiration  and  Action.  —  Conclusion  .     .     .     307 


LIST    OF   PORTRAITS. 


Page 
Rev.  Hosea  Ballou Frontispiece 

Hosea  Ballou,  D.D 95 

Thomas  Whittemore,  D.D Ill 

Otis  A.  Skinner,  D.D 116 

Sylvanus  Cobb,  D.D 124 

John  Moore 147 

Henry  Bacon 148 

Elbridge  G.  Brooks,  D.D 161 

Ebenezer  Fisher,  D.D 163 

Lucius  R.  Paige,  D.D 259 

Alonzo  A.  Miner,  D.D 262 

Thomas  J.   Sawyer,  D.D 268 

Thomas  B.  Thayer,  D.D 275 

William  H.  Ryder,  D.D 283 

Mr.  Thomas  A.  Goddard 298 


FIFTY  NOTABLE  YEARS. 


FIFTY  NOTABLE  YEAES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   WORLD'S  PROGRESS. 

"Even  now,  after  eighteen  centuries  of  Christianity,  we  may  be  in- 
volved in  some  enormous  error,  of  which  the  Christianity  of  the  future 
will  make  us  ashamed." — Vixet. 

"  Yet  I  doubt  not  through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened  by  the  process  of  the  suns." 

Tennyson. 

"  "  I  ''HE  world  moves."  This  is  one  of  the  confident 
■*-  sayings  of  those  who  believe  in  human  progres- 
sion. It  is  an  ordination  of  Divine  Providence  from  the 
beginning  that  man  should  realize  mental  and. moral 
growth  through  the  successive  generations  of  his  earthly 
life.  And  this  divine  purpose  has  been  manifest  in  the 
past  history  of  our  race.  They  who  think,  taking  the 
amplest  view  of  the  present  condition  of  mankind,  any 
former  time  was  better  than  the  present,  do  not  right- 
fully discriminate.  "  If,"  says  Sydney  Smith,  "you  say 
that  our  ancestors  were  wiser  than  we,  mention  your 
date  and  your  year."  Enlightened  humanity  cannot  be 
content  with  its  present  attainments.  Its  purest  and 
highest  aspirations  respond  to  that  clarion  word  of 
Christian  heroism,  "  Let  us  go  on  unto  perfection !  " 


14  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Of  all  the  centuries  of  human  history  which  have  yet 
been  numbered,  none  have  been  more  notable  than  the 
one  in  which  we  are  living.  Since  its  commence- 
ment some  of  the  most  remarkable  changes  that  can  be 
recorded  of  any  age  or  period  have  taken  place.  Edu- 
cation, art,  science,  human  government  and  enterprise, 
religious  thought,  all  have  made  progress.  Nations 
have  changed,  men  have  changed,  if  not  in  nature,  yet 
in  convictions  respecting  man's  capability,  obligation, 
and  destiny.  The  Old  World  and  the  New  have  wit- 
nessed these  transformations. 

It  is  of  the  changes  indicative  of  human  progress 
within  the  middle  of  the  present  century  that  I  desire 
to  speak  in  this  volume  ;  for  during  this  period  there 
seems  to  have  been  a  more  rapid  succession  of  them 
than  ever,  evincing  the  capability  of  our  race  for  an 
advancement  to  which  no  philosophy  of  the  past  or 
present  has  been  able  to  set  bounds.  There  have  been, 
during  this  time,  nobler  revolutions  than  those  effected 
hy  war,  by  the  downfall  of  governments  and  dynasties, 
—  revolutions  more  excellent  and  enduring.  We  mean 
those  wrought  by  human  thought,  investigation,  discov- 
ery, and  invention.  Apt  and  forcible  are  the  words  of 
Dr.  Norman  Macleod,  written  at  the  close  of  the  jear 
1869:  "  In  a  few  hours  the  century  will  have  lived  its 
threescore  and  ten  years.  I  question  if  since  time 
began,  —  with  the  exception  of  three  or  four  great  eras, 
such  as  the  calling  of  Abraham,  the  Exodus,  the  birth 
of  Christ,  the  Reformation,  the  invention  of  printing, 
or,  it  may  be,  the  breaking  up-  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
the  birth  of  Mohammed  or  of  Buddha,  —  such  an  influ- 
ential period  has  existed.  The  invention  of  the  steam- 
engine,    the    discoveiy   of  gas,  telegraph,    chloroform, 


.  THE    WORLD'S  PROGRESS.  15 

with  the  freedom  of  slaves,  the  British  acquisition  of 
India,  the  opening  up  of  the  world  to  the  Gospel,  the 
translations  of  the  Scriptures,  will  make  it  forever 
memorable."  Equally  expressive  are  the  words  re- 
cently spoken  by  the  chief  magistrate  of  Massachusetts : 
"  Think  of  what  has  been  done  in  the  matter  of  edu- 
cation, of  public  schools,  of  universities  of  learning  for 
both  sexes  and  all  races.  In  science  we  have  unlocked 
the  secrets  of  the  earth,  the  air,  and  the  sea,  and  made 
them  not  merely  matters  of  wonder,  but  handmaids  of 
homely  use.  In  all  matters  of  comfort,  of  use,  of  ele- 
gance, of  convenient  living,  of  house  and  table,  and 
furniture,  and  light,  and  warmth,  and  health,  and  travel, 
what  thorough  and  beneficent  advance  equally  for  all, 
shaming  the  petty  meanness  with  which,  unjust  alike 
to  the  old  times  and  the  new,  we  inveigh  against  the 
new  times  and  overrate  the  old  !  "  1 

And  what,  more  especially,  of  moral  revolution  and 
progress  during  the  last  half  century  ?  The  indications 
are  evidently  hopeful  and  cheering.  Human  nature  is 
indeed  the  same,  but  it  has  been  under  new  and  better 
influences  in  modern  than  in  more  remote  time.  Human 
governments  have  improved,  and  even  the  worst  of  them 
are  better  now  than  they  were  fifty  years  ago.  Human 
laws  have  been  rendered  more  human  and  less  bar- 
barous. Sympathy  for  the  poor,  the  degraded,  the 
sinful,  has  been  more  truly  awakened,  and  is  at  this 
moment  in  more  active  operation  than  at  any  previous 
time.  The  moral  obligations  of  political  rulers,  and 
those  who  sustain  them,  have  been  perhaps  more  vigor- 
ously discussed  during  these  years  than  in  any  other 

1  Oration  of  Governor  Long  before  the  municipal  authorities  and  citi- 
zens of  Boston,  July  4,  1882. 


16  FIFTY  NOTABLE  YEARS. 

fifty  years  preceding ;  so  that  there  seems  now  a  more 
favorable  opportunity  than  at  almost  any  previous  day 
this  side  that  of  the  Jewish  Theocracy,  to  impress  this 
truth  upon  the  public  mind,  that  if  individuals  should 
have  consciences  and  a  sense  of  responsibility  to  God, 
so  should  communities  ;  that  "  righteousness  exalteth  a 
nation,  while  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  people."  Religious 
toleration  also  has  increased.  The  rigid  sectarianism  of 
the  past  has  been  giving  way,  so  that  now  the  hunters 
of  heresy,  and  the  executioners  of  those  who  held  it,  are 
read  of  rather  than  seen.  The  false  deity  which  even 
some  Christians  have  worshipped  in  the  past,  and  the 
false  humanity  with  which  they  have  supposed  them- 
selves endowed,  have  been  in  some  good  degree  ex- 
changed for  more  rational  conceptions  of  God  the 
Father,  and  of  man  the  offspring.  And  this  change  is 
daily  going  on  ;  never  was  it  more  perceptible  than  at 
the  present  hour. 

We  should  manifest  an  unpardonable  blindness  in 
noting  these  evidences  of  human  advancement,  if  we 
were  to  leave  out  of  the  account  the  most  significant  of 
all  forces  in  it,  —  we  mean  Christianity. 

This  we  regard  as  the  foremost  power  in  the  spiritual 
progress  thus  far  realized  in  our  world,  and  which 
promises  to  effect  for  the  race  its  highest  exaltation. 
Refinement  and  barbarism  have  more  or  less  marked 
the  history  of  the  world  in  the  past;  they  do  still; 
but  where  does  the  light  of  civilization  shine  brightest 
among  the  nations?  The  answer  is,  where  the  Christian 
religion,  in  its  true  spirit,  most  widely  prevails.  And 
it  is  the  increasing  prevalence  of  it  which  gives  us  the 
assurance  of  that  consummation  of  the  Redeemer's 
work  with  men,  when  they  all  "  come  in  the  unity  of 


THE   WORLD'S  PROGRESS  17 

the  faith  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God, 
unto  a  perfect  man ;  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature 
of  the  fulness  of  Christ."  l 

Christianity  is  a  universal  religion.  Herein  is  its  pre- 
eminence. It  is  for  man  everywhere  and  in  all  time. 
No  other  religion  has  so  clearly  asserted  this  claim  for 
itself,  and  no  other  promises  to  do  so  much  for  man- 
kind. True,  it  has  had  to  make  its  way  against  the 
errors  and  prejudices  and  corruptions  of  the  world. 
It  has  been  mixed  with  human  errors,  and  has  been 
professed,  taught,  and  practised  in  too  many  instances 
by  those  who  have  failed  to  realize  clearly  the  heaven- 
liness  of  its  spirit,  and  its  far-reaching,  regenerative, 
and  overcoming  power.  Its  earliest  promulgators  failed 
to  see  at  first  this  grand  characteristic  of  its  universality. 
An  able  Christian  historian  has  written :  "  Nothing  is 
more  remarkable  than  to  see  the  horizon  of  the  Apostles 
gradually  receding,  and,  instead  of  resting  on  the  bor- 
ders of  the  Holy  Land,  comprehending  at  length  the 
whole  world ;  barrier  after  barrier  falling  down  before 
the  superior  wisdom  which  was  infused  into  their  minds; 
first,  the  proselytes  of  the  gate,  the  foreign  conformists 
to  Judaism,  and,  ere  long,  the  Gentiles  themselves 
admitted  within  the  pale ;  until  Christianity  stood 
forth,  demanded  the  homage,  and  promised  its  rewards 
to  the  faith  of  the  whole  human  race ;  proclaimed  itself 
in  language  which  the  world  had  as  yet  never  heard, 
the  one,  true  universal  reliarion."  2 

Rev.  Dr.  Gerhard  Uhlhorn,  of  Germany,  in  his  able 
work,  "  The  Conflict  of  Christianity  with  Heathenism," 
speaking  of  the  early  development  of  Christianity  in  the 

1  Eph.  iv.  13. 

2  Miknan's  "  History  of  Christianity." 

2 


18  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Roman  Empire,  calls  it  the  first  step  to  its  universalism. 
"Itself  passing  out  from  the  ancient  narrowness  into 
a  world-wide  breadth  of  thought  and  life,  the  old 
world  became  capable  of  accepting  the  Universalism 
of  Christianity."  l  The  old  world  and  the  new  have 
yet  many  steps  forward  to  take  in  this  pathway  of  a 
continually  increasing  brightness. 


CHRISTIAN  UNIVERSALISM.  19 


CHAPTER  II. 

CHRISTIAN  UNIVERSALISM. 

"  Universalism  is  a  living  movement,  organized  out  of  the  grandest 
ideas  and  spiritual  facts  of  the  universe ;  gathering  into  itself  the  richest 
and  mightiest  moral  forces,  and  working  towards  the  most  positive  prac- 
tical ends  ;  and  a  man  is  a  Universalist,  and  is  the  better  off  for  being  a 
Universalist,  only  as  some  sense  of  what  Universalism  thus  is,  and  of 
the  force  of  its  motives,  and  the  reality  of  its  work,  flows  down,  a 
quickening  power,  into  his  being."  — E.  G.  Brooks,  D.D. 

THE  name  Universalism,  as  connected  with  Chris- 
tianity, has  been  especially  notable  during  the 
present  century.  But  the  principles  which  it  implies 
were  averred  by  the  Christian  church  in  its  earliest 
days.  It  signifies  God's  unchanging  paternal  interest 
in  all  his  children;  an  interest  insuring  his  just  dealing 
with  them  for  their  obedience  or  disobedience  of  his 
beneficent  laws,  and  their  final  release  from  sin,  and 
life  in  righteousness.  Under  its  present  name,  Uni- 
versalism is  comparatively  recent ;  its  special  church 
history  being  comprehended  in  something  more  than 
a  century.  But  its  principles  and  doctrines  are  as  old 
as  the  Christian  records,  and  are  found  in  the  Old 
Testament  teachings.  Just  as  all  the  sects  in  Christen- 
dom, though  belonging  to  modern  times,  profess  to 
trace  whatever  they  may  deem  essential  back  to  the 
Apostles,  so  believers  in  Universalism  make  the  same 


20  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

reference,  as  one  of  their  number  has  well  stated  it : 
"  If  we  have  no  business  here  because  we  came  so  late, 
our  neighbors  must  fall  under  the  same  condemnation. 
In  mere  assumption  we  are  neither  younger  nor  older 
than  they." 

The  Universalist  Church  claims  the  New  Testament 
as  the  basis  of  its  doctrines.  It  cites  the  Gospels,  the 
Apostolic  History  and  the  Epistles,  Christ,  and  his  first 
ministers,  as  authority  for  its  pretensions.  After  the 
apostles,  its  lights  appear  in  the  early  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era.  Dr.  Edward  Beecher,  in  his  able  work, 
"  The  Scriptural  Doctrine  of  Future  Retribution," 
shows  that  at  about  the  time  of  Origen,  out  of  the 
six  theological  schools  in  Christendom,  four  taught 
Universal  Salvation  as  the  faith  of  the  Christian 
Church,  —  the  one  at  Cyesarea,  the  one  at  Antioch, 
the  one  at  Alexandria,  the  one  at  Edessa.  That 
eminent  light  of  the  early  church,  Origen,  who  so 
ably  and  successfully  maintained  the  claims  of  Chris- 
tianity against  the  abusive  attacks  of  the  heathen  Cel- 
sus,  was  a  Universalist.  So  was  Alexander,  bishop  of 
Jerusalem,  and  Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  bishop  of  Neo- 
cresarea  ;  and  so  were  the  most  distinguished  by  piety 
and  learning  of  the  masters  of  the  great  theological 
seminary  of  the  early  Church,  the  Catechetical  school 
at  Alexandria.  Doederlein  said  that  "the  more  pro- 
foundly learned  any  one  was  in  Christian  antiquity,  so 
much  more  did  he  cherish  and  defend  the  hope  that  the 
suffering  of  the  wicked  would  at  some  time  come  to  an 
end."  1  And  Hagenbach,  commenting  on  a  remark  of 
Augustine,  says,  "  that  even  that  great  father  of  Ortho- 
doxy admitted  a  relative  cessation  of  damnation."    Also, 

1  Civitate  Dei,  lib.  xxi.,  chap.  16. 


CHRISTIAN  UNIVERSALIS*!.  21 

Gieseler  affirms,  "A  belief  in  the  unalienable  power  of 
amendment  in  all  intelligent  beings,  and  the  limited 
duration  of  future  punishment,  was  general  in  the 
West,  and  among  the  opponents  of  Origen." l  Of 
the  very  time  when  the  influence  of  Origen  was  so 
great  in  the  Church,  and  when,  there  can  be  no  good 
reason  to  doubt,  the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation  was 
held  by  many,  if  not  the  majority  of  Christians,  Mr. 
Lecky,  in  his  history  of  "  Morals  in  Europe,"  says,  "  The 
Christian  community  exhibited  a  moral  purity  which,  if 
it  has  been  equalled,  has  never  for  a  long  time  been  sur- 
passed." 

Dr.  Schaff  says  of  the  condemnation  of  Origen,  which 
included  the  doctrine  of  universal  restoration,  "  It  was 
a  death-blow  to  theological  science  in  the  Greek  Church, 
and  left  it  to  stiffen  gradually  into  a  mechanical  tradi- 
tionalism and  formalism." 

The  increased  light  shed  upon  ecclesiastical  history 
during  the  present  century  shows  most  clearly  the 
growth  of  this  faith  from  the  first  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era  to  the  present  time.  It  has  increased 
with  the  mental  and  moral  progress  of  mankind,  with 
its  best  civilization. 

What  is  written  for  these  pages  will  represent 
especially  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Universalist 
Church  in  America.  It  is  proper,  however,  to  say  that 
the  faith  it  represents  has  had  growth  also  in  other 
lands.  It  has  long  been  known  in  Great  Britain,  where 
a  few  churches  have  made  a  distinct  avowal  of  it,  while 
individuals  scattered  here  and  there  have  had  strong 
interest  in  it.  The  Unitarians  of  England  generally 
avow  it.     In  the  Established  Church,  faith  in  the  doc- 

1  Civitate  Dei,  lib.  xxi.,  chap.  1G. 


22  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

trine  of  endless  punishment  is  not  demanded  as  a  con- 
dition of  church-membership,  while  some  of  its  most 
distinguished  leaders  have  advocated  with  marked 
ability  the  doctrine  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  in 
full  agreement  with  the  doctrine  of  the  final  recon- 
ciliation of  all  souls  to  him.  We  meet  with  Univer- 
salism  in  its  essential  elements  in  Neander,  the  eminent 
Christian  historian,  and  in  commentators  and  scholars 
in  England  and  on  the  Continent.  The  faith  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  poetry  of  Wordsworth,  Tennyson,  and 
others.1  The  able  ministers  Coquerel  (father  and  son) 
were  advocates  of  it  in  the  Reformed  Church  in  France 
(Paris).  The  leaven  of  this  faith  is  in  individuals; 
the  doctrine  is  often  held  and  openly  avowed  from  the 
pulpit  and  through  the  press,  as  well  as  in  private  by  a 
large  number  of  persons  in  various  communions,  who 
may  have  but  little  knowledge  of  each  other,  or  of  the 
advocacy  of  this  faith  elsewhere  through  special  organ- 
izations. 

1  For  evidence  of  the  many  utterances  of  the  Universalist  idea  in  the 
literature  of  the  past,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  volume  entitled  "A 
Cloud  of  Witnesses,"  by  Kev.  John  W.  Hanson,  D.D.,  Chicago,  1880. 


UNIVERSALISM  IN  AMERICA.  23 


CHAPTER  III. 

UNIVERSALISM  IN   AMERICA. 

"  Christianity  is  recognized  as  a  democratic  element,  profitable  for  all 
conditions  of  men,  as  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  our  Consti- 
tution are  the  palladium  of  our  civil  and  religious  rights."  —  Dr.  J.  W. 
Francis,  author  of  "  Old  New  York." 

T  TNIVERSALISM  in  America  took  its  rise  with  the 
^  Republic.  The  coming  of  John  Murray  to  our 
shores,  and  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel  of  universal 
grace,  was  but  a  little  time  previous  to  the  issuing  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  by  the  American  colonies. 
These  colonies  had  come  to  the  full  and  bold  utterance 
with  which  the  Declaration  opens  :  "  We  hold  these 
truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are  created 
equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with 
certain  inalienable  rights  ;  that  among  these  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."  Through  ages 
of  light  and  of  darkness  this  sacred  truth  had  had 
but  little  growth  or  power  in  the  human  mind.  But  it 
was  there,  and  was  not  to  die  there.  It  lived  through 
all  the  world's  change,  commotion,  and  revolution,  and 
the  set  time  had  now  come  when  it  should  have  a 
clearer  and  stronger  expression  and  demonstration  than 
our  old  or  new  worlds  had  yet  known.  This  declaration 
of  our  fathers  signified  the  inestimable  value  of  man  — 
of  every  man  —  to  himself,  his  fellow  man,  and  his  God. 


24  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

It  asserts  the  doctrine  of  human  equality,  not  that  all 
men  have  the  same  intellectual  or  moral  capacities,  or 
should  possess  an  equal  amount  of  property,  or  be  in- 
vested with  the  same  political  privileges  ;  but  the 
religious  doctrine  that  all  are  of  "  one  blood,"  children 
of  one  Father,  protected  by  one  Providence,  made  to 
aid,  to  bless  and  build  each  other  up  in  truth,  justice, 
and  righteousness  henceforth  while  the  world  stands. 
It  signifies  human  equality  and  human  rights  in  their 
broadest  and  most  rational  sense.  As  wrote  Alexander 
Hamilton :  k'  All  men  have  one  common  origin,  they 
participate  in  a  common  nature,  and  consequently  have 
one  common  right.  No  reason  can  be  assigned  why  one 
man  should  exercise  any  pre-eminence  among  his  fellow 
creatures,  unless  they  have  voluntarily  vested  him  with 
it."  It  was  this  conviction,  based  on  a  principle,  that 
carried  our  fathers  through  the  Revolution,  and  gave  to 
us  that  Constitution  which  was  afterwards  the  work  of 
their  hands. 

The  object  of  this  Constitution  is  explicitly  declared, 
"  To  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure 
domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence, 
promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of 
liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity."  This  signified 
not  the  growth  and  strengthening  of  a  sentiment  that 
would  justify  the  building  up  of  one  class  upon  the  sub- 
jugation of  another.  We  have  a  statement  of  the  whole 
truth  in  the  emphatic  language  of  Mr.  Bancroft,  as  he 
speaks  of  the  intent  of  the  framers  of  the  Declaration  on 
which  our  Constitution  is  based.  "  The  Declaration, 
avoiding  specious  and  vague  generalities,  grounds  itself 
with  anxious  care  upon  the  past,  and  reconciles  right 
and  fact.      The  assertion  of  right  was  made  for  the  en- 


UNIVERSALIS!!  IN  AMERICA.  25 

tire  world  of  mankind,  and  all  coming  generations,  with- 
out any  exceptions  whatever  ;  for  the  proposition  which 
admits  of  exceptions  can  never  be  self-evident.  And  as 
it  was  put  forth  in  the  name  of  the  ascendant  people  of 
that  time,  it  was  sure  to  make  the  circuit  of  the  world, 
passing  everywhere  through  the  despotic  countries  of 
Europe ;  and  the  astonished  nations,  as  they  read  that 
all  men  are  created  equal,  started  out  of  their  lethargy, 
like  those  who  have  been  exiles  from  childhood,  when 
they  suddenly  hear  the  dimly  remembered  accents  of 
their  mother  tongue."  1 

It  was  meet  and  right  that  when  this  great  word  went 
forth  to  awaken  the  nations  to  a  new  realization,  there 
should  be  heard  at  the  same  time  in  our  laud  the  trumpet 
notes  of  that  gospel  which  proclaims  the  unbinding  of 
the  heavy  burdens  of  humanity,  liberty  to  the  captives, 
and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  that  are  bound. 
As  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence  (and  a  believer  in  Christian 
Universalism),  in  a  letter  to  Rev.  Mr.  Winchester, 
alluding  to  Rev.  John  Wesley,  writes  :  "  His  writings 
will  ere  long  revive  in  support  of  our  doctrine  —  for  if 
Christ  died  for  all,  as  Mr.  Wesley  always  taught,  it 
will  soon  appear  as  a  necessary  consequence  that  all 
shall  be  saved.  ...  At  present  we  wish  liberty  to  the 
whole  world.  The  next  touch  of  the  celestial  magnet 
upon  the  human  heart  will  direct  it  into  wishes  for  the 
salvation  of  all  mankind." 

This  new  political  life,  upon  which  our  nation  entered, 
signified  the  equality,  true  sonship,  brotherhood,  capa- 
bility, and  earthly  destination  of  man.  It  meant  democ- 
racy, not  the   democracy  of  numbers   merely,   nor  of 

1  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United   States,  vol.  viii. 


26  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

political  parties  struggling  for  supremacy  and  the  spoils 
of  the  victors,  but  a  democracy  having  in  view  a  com- 
mon good — the  greatest  good  of  all.  It  means  intelli- 
gence, thrift,  education,  and  religion  for  the  masses  ;  it 
means  this  for  one  people,  means  it  for  all  nations  of 
mankind.  Precisely  this  is  signified  by  the  re-affirma- 
tion on  these  western  shores  of  that  gospel  anciently 
proclaimed  to  the  Athenians  by  the  Christian  apostle  : 
"  God,  that  made  the  world  .  .  .  hath  made  of  one  blood 
all  nations  of  men,  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the 
earth,  ...  as  certain  also  of  your  own  poets  have  said, 
For  we  are  also  his  offspring."  1  A  common  humanity, 
a  common  interest  and  destiny,  are  declared. 

It  is  a  common  humanity  with  which  Christ  is  in 
sympathy  ;  which  makes  him  who  would  be  highest  in 
the  Divine  estimation  the  servant  of  all  ;  which  recog- 
nizes the  Golden  Rule,  directs  the  strong  to  bear  the 
infirmities  of  the  weak,  and  men  everywhere  to  be 
helpers  one  of  another,  because  their  interests  are  not 
antagonistic,  when  the  laws  that  govern  their  nature  are 
clearly  understood.     They  have  unity  : 

"  What  binds  one,  binds  all, 
Love  of  things  true  and  right." 

Men  have,  too,  a  common  interest  under  the  Divine 
guardianship.  Wherever  there  is  a  man,  there  is  a 
being  in  whose  soul  God  has  implanted  aspirations 
after  himself,  a  propensity  to  religion,  a  feeling  after 
him  which  may  be  misled  by  superstition,  or  overlaid 
by  ignorance,  or  elevated  by  knowledge  into  purest 
piety,  but  which  is  yet  there.  Wherever  he  exists  the 
Sovereign  Power  holds  him  in  discipline,  demands  an 

i  Acts,  xvii.  24,  28. 


UNIVERSALIS!!  IN  AMERICA.  27 

account  from  him  at  his  tribunal  of  impartial  justice, 
and  will  not  permit  him  to  go  out  of  his  hands.  To 
whatever  heights  he  ascends,  God  still  encompasses  him  ; 
into  whatever  depths  he  may  fall,  he  is  still  held  by 
the  guardian  beneficent  power. 

One  destiny,  also,  is  affirmed  of  this  great  body 
of  humanity ;  a  blessing  instituted  in  the  beginning, 
including  all  families,  kindreds,  nations.  No  divine 
favoritism  towards  one  over  another  do  we  see.  The 
law  and  the  prophets  point  towards  this  universal 
grace  of  God  to  man.  Israel  and  the  Gentile  world 
shall  alike  share  it.  The  apocalyptic  vision  opens  it 
up  to  the  eye  of  faith.  "And  every  creature  which 
is  in  heaven,  and  on  the  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  and 
such  as  are  in  the  sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them,  heard  I, 
saying,  Blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power,  be 
unto  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the 
Lamb,  for  ever  and  ever."  l  What  is  this  but  the  fact, 
and  the  ultimate  completeness  and  glory  of  the  unity 
of  the  race  ?  One  Father,  Brotherhood,  Saviour,  Hom- 
age, Destiny. 

Other  theologies  had  made  distinctions  and  endless 
separations  in  representing  mankind ;  had  denied,  as 
they  still  deny,  this  fraternal  relationship,  this  positive 
family  connection ;  had  represented  God  rather  as  an 
arbitrary  sovereign  than  loving  Father,  and  the  Divine 
government  a  wilful  monarchy  instead  of  a  just  and 
merciful  dispensation  under  which  each  soul  is  of  equal 
value,  and  the  good  of  one  is  the  good  of  all.  Unbelief 
has  said,  as  in  the  language  of  Spinoza :  "  The  right 
extends  as  far  as  the  force  of  the  natural  right  or  law, 
jus  et  institutum  naturce  is  nothing  more  than  the  rules 

i  Eev.  v.  13. 


28  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

of  the  nature  of  each  individual."  The  divisions  and 
contentions,  classes  and  castes,  the  impositions,  frauds, 
and  oppressions  which  have  more  or  less  marked  the 
social  relations  of  mankind,  all  come  of  this  pernicious 
error  growing  out  of  the  unchecked  selfishness  of  the 
human  heart.  Christian  Universalism  forever  contra- 
dicts this  error.  It  affirms  that  the  great  body  of 
humanity  is  one,  and  that  it  is  death  to  sunder  it.  "  If 
one  member  suffer,  all  the  members  suffer  with  it ;  if 
one  rejoice,  all  rejoice  together ;  for  the  body  is  not  one 
member,  but  many." 1  In  the  affirmation  of  the  Gos- 
pel, religious  bigotry  and  exclusiveness  find  a  constant 
reproof;  undue  boasting,  arrogance,  and  pride  are 
hushed  by  this  grand  conviction  that  "  One  is  our 
Father  who  is  in  heaven,  and  all  we  are  brethren." 
The  broadest  philanthropy  is  awakened  everywhere  in 
man.  The  world  becomes  the  one  great  field  of  effort 
for  the  enlightenment,  relief,  upraising,  and  perfect- 
ing of  humanity.  In  the  strong  and  noble  words  of 
another :  "  Universalism  and  the  Revolution  began  to 
rise  together.  They  were  rocked  together  in  the  same 
stormy  days,  in  the  cradle  of  American  liberty.2  The 
banner  of  Universalism  is  love.  Let  that  banner  be 
lifted  up.  It  shall  symbol  yet  the  true  idea  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  '  All  men  are  created 
equal.'  I  look  forward  to  the  time  when  our  flag  shall 
wave  in  unsullied  glory,  not  over  smoking  ruins,  at  the 
mast-head  of  our  battle-ships,  on  bloody  fields,  from  the 
parapets  of  our  forts,  merely ;  but  the  stars  and  stripes 

i  1  Cor.  xii.  14,  26. 

2  When  Rev.  John  Murray  first  preached  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Nov.  26, 
1773,  he  discoursed  from  this  appropriate  text:  "If  the  Son  therefore 
shall  make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed."  —  John,  viii.  36. 


UNI  VERS ALISM  IN  AMERICA.  29 

and  the  white  banner  together,  floating  over  slaves 
redeemed,  sinners  converted,  evil  statutes  abolished, 
the  people  united,  and  the  North  and  the  South 
one."1 

1  Eev.  T.  Whittemore,  D.  D.      Speech  at  Faneuil  Hall  Festival,  1858. 


30  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

EARLY   ADVOCACY   OF    UNIVERSALIS*!    IN   AMERICA. 

"  The  voice  of  him  that  crieth  in  the  wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the  way 
of  the  Lord,  make  straight  in  the  desert  a  highway  for  our  God."  — 
Isaiah,  xl.  3. 

"D  EV.  JOHN  MURRAY,  from  England,  landed  on 
-*-^-  the  shore  of  New  Jersey  in  1770.  He  came 
hither  much  oppressed  in  spirit  on  account  of  severe 
afflictions  in  England,  and  had  determined  not  to  place 
himself  before  the  public  again  as  a  preacher.  His 
published  biography  tells  us  how  differently  the  arrange- 
ments were  made  by  Providence  respecting  him.  It  is 
a  remarkable  record,  that  of  his  meeting  with  Thomas 
Potter,  who  declared  that  he  had  been  long  waiting  for 
the  minister  who  had  now  come,  that  he  must  preach  in 
the  new  meeting-house  which  had  been  builded  for  him  ; 
and  who,  in  face  of  the  preacher's  refusal  to  comply 
with  his  request,  declared  that  the  wind  would  not 
change  for  him  to  leave  in  the  vessel  until  he  had  de- 
livered his  message.  After  a  severe  mental  conflict  the 
stranger  consented  to  preach  on  the  following  Sunday. 
Due  notice  was  given,  and  the  house  was  filled  with 
attentive  listeners. 

There  had  been  some  other  preaching  of  Universalism 
in  different  places  in  America  previous  to  this  time,  as 
there    were  here    and    there   those   who   cherished   the 


EARLY  ADVOCACY  OF   UNIVERSALISM.  31 

faith  and  made  public  avowal  of  it.  Dr.  George  de 
Benneville,  a  fugitive  from  France  because  of  religious 
persecution,  established  himself  near  Germ  an  town,  Pa., 
as  a  physician,  and  being  a  devout  believer  in  Univer- 
salism,  took  occasion  often  to  advocate  it  in  public, 
with  much  effect.  This  beginning  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Murray,  however,  opened  the  way  to  a  systematic, 
permanent  movement,  and  led  to  the  establishment  of 
Universalist  churches.  He  preached  much  in  New 
England,  and  was  settled  in  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  and 
afterwards  in  Boston,  where  he  remained  pastor  of  one 
church  for  nearly  thirty  years.  In  his  preaching  at 
first,  Mr.  Murray  did  not  design  to  establish  a  separate 
sect.  He  was  welcomed  by  ministers  and  their  follow- 
ers into  orthodox  pulpits,  until  his  outspoken  views 
respecting  the  salvation  of  the  race  raised  a  strong 
opposition  against  him,  which  made  him  an  object  of 
persecution,  and  marked  him  as  the  propagator  of  a 
dangerous  heresy.  Thus  excluded  from  Christian  com- 
munion and  fellowship  by  other  sects,  it  was  but  reason- 
able and  just  that  the  believers  in  Universalism  should 
assume  for  themselves  the  rights  and  privileges  of  a 
distinct  and  independent  Christian  fraternity ;  so  that 
other  sects  were  responsible  for  the  separation  of  this 
branch  of  the  Christian  church  from  themselves.  It 
has  been  justly  said  by  another:  — 

"  If  there  was  sin  in  this  schism,  in  this  separate  religious 
organization,  it  was  a  sin  for  which  the  other  sects  of  those 
times  should  bear  the  blame.  They  turned  us  out  of  doors, 
because  we  dared  express  our  earnest  solemn  opinions,  and 
we  had  only  these  two  alternatives, — to  sta}'  out  of  doors 
or  go  in  at  those  which  were  hung  on  Universalist  hinges. 
Does  anybody  to-day  condemn  us  because  we  chose  the  lat- 


32  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

ter?  We  do  not  uncharitably  condemn  them  for  the  course 
they  took ;  the}*  acted,  in  most  cases,  conscientiously  ;  and 
it  was,  perhaps,  a  providential  necessity  of  the  times  that 
the  two  elements  should  separate  ;  that  the  two  classes  of 
Christians,  holding  views  so  opposite,  should  walk  apart  for 
a  while.  Denied  the  fellowship  of  other  churches  at  the  start, 
we  have  tried  to  be  content  with  the  fellowship  of  Christ ; 
and  we  neither  desire  nor  ask  for  any  other  until  we  are 
deemed  wortlry  of  it.  That  we  can  endure  to  be  called 
heretics,  even  infidels,  that  we  can  stand  alone,  and  yet  live, 
and  grow,  and  win  the  respect  of  the  best  part  of  the  world, 
is  already  demonstrated.  Our  great  anxiety  in  the  future 
will  be  to  show  to  all  right-minded  people,  by  our  life  rather 
than  our  word,  that  we  are  Christians,  that  this  last  form  of 
Protestantism  is  only  more  genuine,  because  nearer  the  truth, 
than  the  first."  1 

Contemporary  with  Mr.  Murray  during  his  early  min- 
istry in  America  Avere  Elhanan  Winchester,  a  highly 
gifted  and  effective  minister;  Thomas  Jones,  formerly 
of  the  Lady  Huntington  connection  in  England,  and 
afterwards  settled  at  Gloucester,  Mass. ;  Adams  and 
Zebulon  Streeter,  Caleb  Rich,  Thomas  Barnes,  Noah 
Parker,  Noah  Murray,  George  Richards,  William  Far- 
well,  Joab  Young,  Hosea  and  David  Ballon,  Edward 
Turner,  —  most  of  these  preachers  in  New  England  ; 
Abel  Sargent  in  Western  Pennsylvania,  and  a  few  others. 
Dr.  Joseph  Priestley  was  for  a  time  in  Philadelphia, 
where  he  advocated  the  doctrine  of  the  final  restora- 
tion of  all  souls  ;  and  Rev.  Dr.  Mayhew  and  Rev.  Dr. 
Chauncey,  although  not  identified  with  the  work  of  the 
ministers  already  mentioned,  had  made  distinct  avowals 
of   this  same  faith.     A  remarkable  fact  in  connection 

1  Eev.  J.  H.  Tuttle,  D.  D. 


EARLY  ADVOCACY  OF   UNIVERSALISM.  33 

with  the  history  of  most  of  these  men  is,  that  they 
were  not  from  theological  schools,  nor  largely  endowed 
with  literary  qualifications.  They  were  men  of  clear 
mental  perceptions,  were  well  versed  in  the  Bible,  ready 
and  apt  in  their  references  to  it,  of  sincere  convictions, 
and  of  indomitable  will.  The}7,  went  forth  in  readiness 
for  whatever  encounters  might  await  them,  never  fear- 
ing what  theological  forces  might  appear  in  their  way, 
so  long  as  they  felt  assured  that  "  the  sword  of  the 
Spirit''  would  not  fail  them,  and  that  they  should  be 
made  "  strong  in  the  Lord,"  and  victorious  in  his  might. 
Well  has  it  been  written  :  — 

"  It  will  be  brave  reading  when  somebody  shall  display  to 
us  how  the  faith  came  quietly  to  exist  at  far  distant  points, 
Pennsylvania,  New  York,  New  England,  variously  born  of 
widel}T  different  antecedents,  but  gradually  converging  to  a 
general  likeness  hy  the  time  John  Murray  came  to  be  the 
nucleus  around  which  all  should  centre,  an  organic  but  unor- 
ganized mass,  without  form  but  not  void.  Then  will  follow 
the  long  history  of  separated  and  desultory  warfare  with  the 
established  prejudices  and  partialities  of  the  Christian  sects, 
during  which  every  verse  of  Scripture  was  discussed,  every 
doctrine  examined  from  the  base,  every  conventional  habit 
of  thought  dragged  to  the  light  and  called  to  account,  every 
inch  of  theological  ground  stubbornly  fought  over.  All  this 
while  there  were  annual  meetings  called  the  General  Con- 
vention and  recognized  as  a  centre  of  denominational  union, 
but  they  were  little  more  than  voluntary  mass-meetings  ;  all 
authority  was  jealously  reserved  to  societies  or  local  Associ- 
ations, with  the  largest  liberty  of  individual  preference,  and 
Universalists,  like  Israel  under  its  Judges,  did  as  seemed 
good  in  every  man's  sight.  Men  in  less  deadly  earnest,  or 
dealing  with  doctrines  less  profound  and  fundamental,  would 
have  formed  a  close  compact  early  in  their  history.     But  it 

3 


34  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

was  in  the  nature  of  the  case  that  these  revolted  thinkers 
should  be  shy  of  new  bonds,  and  that  these  divers  searching 
the  deeps  should  think  little  of  the  surface.  It  was  only  when 
there  came  to  be  multitudes  born  in  the  faith,  with  intellect- 
ual habits  and  social  affinities  based  on  Universalism,  with 
established  worship  and  gathered  congregations  scattered 
across  the  continent,  that  the  imperative  need  of  a  firm 
union  for  work  and  discipline  was  felt ;  and  to  reach  this 
point  had  taken  almost  a  hundred  years."  - 

As  time  passes,  and  new  phases  of  the  church  repre- 
senting the  Universalist  faith  appear,  and  new  advocates 
of  it  arise,  these  days  of  its  first  advocacy  in  our  land  may 
lose  their  significance  to  many  minds  in  the  increasing 
attractions  connected  with  the  same  church  in  the  pres- 
ent time.  But  he  who  would  see  most  clearly  the  hand 
of  Divine  Providence  in  the  breaking  of  the  light  of 
this  new  dispensation  upon  our  shores,  will  hold  in  just 
and  sacred  estimation  this  "  clay  of  small  things,"  when 
these  faithful  ones  stood  forth  to  declare  its  glad  tidings. 
So  graphically  have  the  words  of  another  given  the 
deserved  tribute  to  their  works,  that  we  gladly  record 
them  in  these  pages. 

"The  early  defenders  of  Universalism  were  plain,  earnest 
men,  aroused  to  the  exertion  of  all  their  energies  by  the 
presence  of  a  great  thought.  The  truth  of  God's  universal 
love  and  benevolent  purpose  in  creation  possessed  them. 
They  saw  it  everywhere,  prefigured  in  Hebrew  types,  pre- 
dicted by  the  prophets,  implied  in  every  word  of  Jesus, 
enforced  in  every  letter  of  his  apostles.  The}*  taught  it  in 
all  places,  and  by  all  methods,  in  parish  churches  and  district 
school-houses,  in  fields  and  workshops,  in  pulpits  with  stones 

1  Rev.  J.  Smith  Dodge,  D.D. 


EARLY  ADVOCACY   OF   UNIVERSALIS!!.  35 

flying  about  their  heads,  in  rooms  filled  with  the  odor  of 
nauseous  drugs,  in  face  of  the  reckless  slander  of  the  undig- 
nified and  the  quiet  contempt  of  the  dignified  portion  of 
the  clerg}'.  They  were  armed  at  all  points,  like  the  old 
war  engines  that,  overturned  every  moment,  always  stood 
right  side  up.  They  turned  the  tables  upon  the  literal 
Calvinistic  interpreters,  and  held  a  text  to  floor  every 
opponent.  They  were  not  moved  by  ridicule,  for  they  pos- 
sessed a  keen  sense  of  the  ludicrous,  and  knew  well  how  to 
expose  the  absurdities  of  the  piebald  theology  of  the  churches. 
To  the  threats  of  their  opponents  they  opposed  Hudibrastie 
rhymes;  to  their  missiles,  words  like  old  Murray's,  'While 
I  have  a  "  thus  saith  the  Lord  "  for  every  point  of  doctrine 
which  I  advance,  not  all  the  stones  in  Boston,  except 
they  stop  my  breath,  shall  shut  my  mouth  or  arrest  my 
testimony.'  To  the  arguments  of  their  adversaries,  a  logic 
like  that  of  Ballon,  simple  as  the  talk  of  a  little  child, 
strong  as  the  tramp  of  a  giant.  There  were  varieties  of 
opinion  among  them  ;  they  had  not  all  come  up  to  the  mount 
of  their  elevation  by  the  same  path,  but  the  sublime  truth 
'God  is  Love'  burned  like  an  undying  flame  in  their  souls, 
and  united  them  like  brothers.  Thank  God  that  the  sleep  of 
the  church  was  awakened  by  these  strong  champions.  Nobly 
they  spake  their  words  in  days  when  it  was  a  disgrace  in  the 
e}'es  of  men  !  "  1 

1  Rev.  A.  D.  Mayo,  Sermon  at  Funeral  of  Rev.  Thomas  Jones  of 
Gloucester,  Mas?.,  1846. 


36  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 


CHAPTER   V. 

GROWTH. 

"  Day  by  day  the  doctrine  of  the  eternity  of  evil  is  being  driven  into 
its  native  night  before  a  higher  view  of  the  nature  of  God,  and  a  nobler 
belief  in  Him  as  the  undying  righteousness. " —  Rev.  Stopfokd  A. 
Brooke. 

\  T  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  thirty  years 
-*■  ^-  from  the  time  of  Mr.  Murray's  first  preaching  in 
America,  there  were  a  few  more  than  twenty  preachers  of 
Universalism  here.  By  the  year  1813  there  were  forty  ; 
in  1840  there  were  four  hundred  and  sixty-three.  At 
the  present  time  our  church  "  Register "  reports  the 
number  seven  hundred  and  thirty.  And  this  increase 
of  ministerial  force  is  not  the  most  noticeable  fact  in  con- 
nection with  the  advancement  of  this  faith.  Other 
instrumentalities  are  to  be  taken  into  the  account.  As 
the  preacher  at  the  centenary  meeting  of  the  National 
Convention  stated:  "  Our  lists,  latterly,  have  been  more 
closely  pruned  ;  our  parishes  have  been  greatly  strength- 
ened ;  our  bases  of  operations  have  been  fortified  ;  our 
clergy  have  made  great  advances  in  devising  liberal 
things  ;  and  our  laity,  possessing  far  greater  wealth, 
and  holding  far  higher  social  positions  than  formerly, 
more  nobly  respond,  and  with  greater  alacrity,  to  the 
far-sighted  demands  now  so  frequently  made  upon 
them.      There    are    scores    of     our    parishes    in     the 


GROWTH.  37 

various  sections  of  our  Zion,  any  one  of  which  can 
now  be  moved  to  a  greater  work  for  a  worthy  object 
outside  its  own  interests,  than  could  our  whole  church 
twenty-five  years  ago."  1 

Educational  improvements  have  also  contributed  to 
this  favorable  change.    At  first  there  were  no  theological 
seminaries  nor  academies  in  aid  of  this  faith.    In  process 
of  time  these  grew  up  and  were  made  serviceable  in  the 
promotion  of  it,  so  that  now  not  less  than  seven  acade- 
mies, five  colleges,  including  three  professional  schools, 
two  of   divinity  and  one  of  law,  having  an  aggregate 
property  of  more  than  two  millions  of  dollars,  are  to  be 
counted  among  its  working  forces.      The  publications 
in  the  interests  of  this  faith  have  had  large  increase. 
Books,  pamphlets,  tracts,  weekly  and  monthty  journals, 
and  the  "  Quarterly,"  commentaries  on  the  Scriptures, 
together   with   well-sustained    publishing    houses,    are 
additional  influences  constantly  in  operation  to  aid  the 
efforts  of  the  ministry.     The  Murray  Centenary  Fund, 
projected  in  1869,  is  designed  to  aid  in  the  education  of 
the  clergy,  the  circulation  of  denominational  literature, 
and  in  church  extension.     This  Fund  amounted,  Oct.  1, 
1880,  to  $121,757.29.      The  Woman's  Centenary  Aid 
Association  was  organized  in  1869  to  assist  in  raising 
the  Murray  Fund,  and  was  incorporated  Sept.  18,  1873. 
It  is  supported  wholly  by  voluntary  contributions  and 
annual  memberships.       These  are  all  evidences  of  life 
and  advancement,  and  indicate  a  larger  increase  in  the 
future,  which  may  be  realized  with  a  zeal  in  operation 
like  that  which  has  effected  the  change  already  noted. 

Of  the  theological  changes  realized  since  the  opening 
of  the  present  century,  what  shall  we  say?  and  all  of 

1  Rev.  Dr.  A.  A.  Miner,  Discourse  at  Gloucester,  September,  1870. 


38  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

them  indicating  an  approach  to  this  very  faith  of  which 
we  are  speaking.  When  Murray  and  his  contemporaries 
entered  upon  their  work  in  America,  the  old  Calvin- 
istic  theology  had  almost  undisputed  sway  here  ;  and  for 
fifty  years  afterwards  it  was  more  or  less  so.  But  since 
1830  up  to  the  present  time,  including  the  middle  of 
this  century,  the  advancement  in  theological  thought 
has  been  as  marked  as  have  these  other  changes  and 
signs  of  progress  to  which  we  have  alluded.  True, 
Arminianism  came  in  with  the  Methodistic  movement, 
and  made  vigorous  warfare  upon  the  old  theology,  with 
its  "  five  points "  so  tenaciously  adhered  to.  But 
Methodism  held  fast  that  abominable  dogma,  eternal 
punishment,  and  failed  to  see  God's  purposes  any 
more  effective  in  the  final  salvation  of  souls  than  did 
Calvinism  with  its  full  assurance  of  the  salvation  of 
"  the  elect  "  only.  The  Arminian  deity  seems  to  have 
had  no  fixed  purpose  as  to  the  number  of  the  finally 
redeemed.  Though  he  foreknew,  he  was  not  pleased 
to  ordain,  or  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Adam  Clarke  :  "  I 
conclude  that  God,  although  omniscient,  is  not  obliged, 
in  consequence  of  this,  to  know  all  that  he  can  know."  * 
The  God  of  Calvin,  though  having  a  determinate  will, 
appeared  as  a  tyrannical  sovereign ;  the  God  of  Ar- 
minius,  as  lacking  in  purpose  and  in  power.  The  one 
made  the  salvation  of  a  certain  number  sure  ;  the  other 
left  all  in  uncertainty,  because  so  much  depended  solely 
on  the  will  of  the  creature.  The  two  systems  summed 
up,  however,  amounted  to  Universalism.  The  one 
affirmed  that  every  soul  for  whom  Christ  died  would  be 
saved  ;  the  other,  that  Christ,  "  by  the  grace  of  God, 
tasted  death  for  every  man." 2     Opposed  as  were  the 

1  Comra.  on  Acts,  ii.  23.  2  Heb.  ii.  9. 


GRO  WTH.  39 

two  sects  representing  these  theologies,  in  the  begin- 
ning, they  have  settled  down  into  quite  a  fraternal 
compromise  during  the  last  half  century.  Pulpit  ex- 
changes are  free  among  their  ministers,  and,  although 
here  and  there  some  of  the  old  peculiarities  of  Calvin- 
ism occasionally  find  utterance,  the  statement  of  a  noted 
Congregation alist  minister  seems  to  express  the  thought 
of  both  parties,  "  Election  means,  whosoever  will  ; 
reprobation,  whosoever  wont."  1 

It  was  in  face  of  what  were  deemed  the  main  errors 
of  both  these  theologies  that  Universalism  stood  forth 
as  the  vindicator  of  God  the  just  and  merciful  Father  of 
all  his  children,  their  Judge  and  Saviour,  through  Christ 
who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all,  and  whose  own  ex- 
pressive statement  of  the  result  of  his  ministry  was, 
"And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all 
men  unto  me."  2 

It  has  been  during  the  ministry  of  this  faith  in  the 
present  century  that  the  leading  doctrines  of  the  the- 
ology formerly  prevalent  in  our  land  have  been  ques- 
tioned, investigated,  and  in  many  minds  outgrown. 
Who  now  believes  in  the  endless  suffering  of  infants? 
a  doctrine  deemed  unquestionable  in  the  churches  a  cen- 
tury ago.  Even  the  existence  of  it  at  that  time,  in  face  of 
the  most  stubborn  facts,  has  been  denied  by  those  whose 
parents  and  grandparents  heard  it  from  the  Christian 
pulpit.  Who  assents  to  the  doctrine  of  the  total  de- 
pravity of  human  nature,  its  inability  "  to  do  a  good 
deed  or  think  a  good  thought,"  and  its  utter  odiousness 
in  God's  sight?  What  considerations  and  reconsider- 
ations are  there  of  that  doctrine  of  atonement  which 
involves    the   assumption    that    God    was   so   incensed 

1  Rev.  H.  W.  Beecher.  2  John,  xii.  32 ;  1  Tim.  ii.  4. 


40  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

against  his  sinful  children  that  Christ,  the  second  and 
more  merciful  person  in  the  Godhead,  came  into  the 
world  and  died  to  appease  the  wrath  of  God  and  render 
it  possible  for  him  to  be  merciful  to  the  delinquents  ; 
and  how  much  more  emphatic  is  the  conviction  finding- 
utterance,  so  eminently  expressive  of  Christian  Univer- 
salism,  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.  For  God  sent  not 
his  Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the 
world  through  him  might  be  saved."  *  And  the  doctrine 
of  endless  punishment,  how,  during  the  time  of  which 
we  are  speaking,  has  this  been  questioned  in  the  churches 
of  our  land.  It  has  been  seen  that  the  divine  character 
is  involved  in  this  doctrine,  and  that  one  of  the  most 
difficult  of  all  theological  works  is  to  vindicate  this  char- 
acter in  the  light  of  it.  Formerly,  it  was  deemed  little 
short  of  impiety  to  question  the  justice  of  God  when  this 
horrible  doctrine  was  represented  as  an  indication  and 
vindication  of  it.  To  cite  emphatically  the  passage 
in  Matthew  (xxv.  46),  "  These  shall  go  away  into  ever- 
lasting punishment,  but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal," 
was  considered  evidence  enough  that  the  divine  justice 
could  and  would  be  signalized  in  the  utter  banishment 
of  great  numbers  of  his  children  from  him,  world  with- 
out end.  To  question  the  exegesis  of  the  passage  as 
generally  given  —  the  original  meaning  of  the  word  ren- 
dered "everlasting"  and  "  eternal  " — was  regarded  as 
a  direct  affront  to  the  human  wisdom  of  the  past  that 
had  sanctioned  it ;  and  to  declare  such  an  explanation 
of  it  as  derogatory  to  "  the  Eternal  Goodness,"  was  to 
question  the  veracity  of  the  High  and  Holy  One  !     But 

i  John,  iii.  16,  17. 


GROWTH.  41 

the  thoughts  of  men  have  kept  at  work ;  inquiry 
has  gone  on  ;  the  old  explanation  has  been  most  con- 
fidently and  emphatically  denied,  and  a  more  reasonable 
and  consistent  one  given.  Even  the  most  respectable 
orthodoxy  itself  has  conceded  that  the  aionian  punish- 
ment here  set  forth  is  not  necessarily  to  be  understood 
as  implying  endless  duration,  and  that  in  the  argument 
henceforth  against  the  doctrine  of  universal  restoration, 
this  old  interpretation  of  the  text  need  be  no  longer 
urged.1  We  have  reserved  a  more  extended  view  of 
this  subject,  however,  for  the  close  of  this  volume. 

1  Dr.  Taylor  Lewis. 


42  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

UNI  VERS  ALISM.  —  UNITARIANISM.  —  RATIONALISM. 

"  And  are  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets, 
Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief  corner-stone."  —  Eph.  ii.  20. 

SINCE  the  growth  of  the  Universalist  faith  during 
the  present  century  in  our  country,  that  phase 
of  Liberal  Christianity  denominated  Unitarianism  has 
had  its  rise.  It  was  an  outcome  of  the  Arminianism 
in  orthodox  churches.  It  advocated  the  doctrine  of 
the  Unity  of  God,  in  opposition  to  that  of  the  Trinity 
as  held  by  most  of  the  churches  in  New  England.1  It 
also  rejected  the  doctrine  of  total  depravity,  affirming 
that  man  had  within  him  the  germs  of  goodness,  and 
needed  the  work  of  Christian  culture  to  insure  his  true 
religious  growth  and  perfection.  Respecting  the  des- 
tination of  man  beyond  the  grave  it  had  no  uniform 
affirmation.  Its  leading  ministers  —  Drs.  Channing, 
Dewey,  Gannett,  and  others  —  were  undecided  as  to 
this  great  question.     Dr.  Channing   uttered  his  protest 

1  The  volume  on  the  Atonement,  issued  in  1805  by  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou, 
was  the  first  of  any  note,  in  this  country,  in  which  the  subordination  of 
Christ  to  the  Father  was  maintained.  Dr.  Mayhew  and  Rev.  James 
Freeman,  of  Boston,  had  already  preached  anti-Trinitarian  views  in 
that  city,  and  Dr.  Priestley  and  a  Mr.  Butler  had  preached  them  in 
other  parts  of  the  country.  But  Mr.  Ballou's  circumstances  had  not,  it 
is  likely,  allowed  him  to  know  what  these  men  believed  and  taught. — 
Rev.  Dk.  A.  P.  Putnam,  in  "  Religious  Magazine,"  April,  1871. 


UNIVERSALIS*!.  —  UNITARIANISM.  —  RA  TIONALISM.     43 

against  "  the  horrible  thought "  of  interminable  suffer- 
ing, as  affirmed  by  the  dominant  sects,  while  his  state- 
ments respecting  the  wasted  and  ill-spent  life  make  it 
an  "  impassable  gulf  from  our  Creator  and  from  pure 
and  happy  beings,  —  a  consuming  fire  and  undying 
worm."'  Dr.  Gannett  has  similar  opinions :  "  Self- 
reproach,  exclusion  from  the  happiness  of  heaven,  re- 
moval from  the  favor  of  God  ;  to  live  but  to  suffer,  to 
feel  one's  self  at  variance  with  all  that  is  true  and  good 
and  beautiful  in  the  universe  ;  what  more  it  is,  eternity 
will  disclose."  Rev.  Mr.  Alger  thinks  no  fair  critic  can 
say  that  alcovios,  eternal  or  everlasting,  when  applied  to 
punishment,  means  absolutely  endless,  nor,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  it  does  not  so  mean.  The  late  Rev.  E.  H. 
Sears  writes  that  "  it  is  the  average  opinion  of  Unita- 
rians that  Restoration  is  not  a  doctrine  of  Revelation." 
The  American  Unitarian  Association  said:  "  While  we 
do  generally  hold  to  the  doctrine  of  the  final  universal- 
ity of  salvation  as  a  consistent  speculation  of  the  reason 
and  a  strong  belief  of  the  heart,  yet  we  deem  it  to  be 
in  each  case  a  matter  of  contingency,  always  depending 
on  conditions  freely  to  be  accepted  or  rejected."  The 
editor  of  the  "Monthly  Religious  Magazine"  —  the 
principal  of  that  class  published  by  Unitarians  —  writes, 
in  1870 :  "  Unitarians  do  not  believe  in  Universal  Res- 
toration as  a  doctrine  of  Revelation  fairly  yielded  by 
the  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures.  This,  we  mean,  is 
the  average  opinion.  They  do  not  think  the  Bible 
gives  any  verdict  as  to  the  final  salvation  of  all  man- 
kind." Dr.  Dewey,  in  later  times  (as  in  his  discourse 
in  the  volume  of  "Pitt  Street  Chapel  Lectures"), 
has  defined  the  doctrine  of  the  Paternity  of  God  so 
as  to  seem  in  agreement  with  that  of  the  final  salvation 


44  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

of  all  souls.  And  at  the  present  time  perhaps  the 
largest  number  of  Unitarian  ministers  would  not  hesi- 
tate to  give  their  assent  to  this  doctrine  on  philosophi- 
cal or  scriptural  grounds. 

For  the  full  and  clear  affirmation  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man,  — 
the  former  giving  assurance  of  a  merciful  care  of  God's 
offspring,  and  the  latter  of  the  final  union,  and  not  sepa- 
ration, of  the  great  human  family,  —  we  are  indebted 
to  the  fathers  of  Universalism  in  our  land,  —  Murray,  the 
Ballous,  the  Streeters,  and  their  contemporaries.  The 
Universalism  which  they  declared  and  defended  was 
that  of  the  absolute  and  universal  reign  of  Divine  love, 
—  love  that  is  ever  calling  the  child  to  obedience  and 
happiness,  and  warning  him  against  the  inevitable  and 
dire  consequences  of  transgression  ;  love  that  sent  Jesus 
Christ  into  the  world  as  the  world's  Regenerator,  unto 
whom  every  knee  shall  bow,  and  whom  every  tongue 
shall  confess  to  be  Lord  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father ; 
love  that  can  and  will  overcome  all  hatred,  make  an  end 
of  sin,  destroy  death,  and  bring  in  everlasting  right- 
eousness. This  is  the  Universalism  that  has  led  the  way 
in  this  great  advance  and  change  of  theological  thought, 
in  the  New  England  and  other  churches,  which  is  so 
widespread  at  this  hour.  It  did  not  wait  for  public 
opinion  to  be  ready  for  it,  but  went  out  on  its  mission, 
confronting  as  determined  an  opposition  as  has  ever  met 
any  rising  sect  since  the  apostolic  days.  Its  first  advo- 
cates, and  most  of  those  who  have  succeeded  them,  have 
had  a  definite  theology,  a  positive  faith  to  affirm.  They 
have  declared  it  to  the  world  as  the  best,  the  pre-emi- 
nent faith,  standing  not  in  the  wisdom  of  men  but  in 
the  power  of  God  ;  and  have  asked,  as   they  are  still 


UNI  VERSALISM.  —  UNITARIANISM.  —  RA  TIONALISM.     45 

asking,  all  the  churches  and  all  the  world,  to  show  them 
a  better  if  they  are  able  to  do  so. 

The  sincere  believers  in  this  faith  of  the  Gospel  are 
glad  to  welcome  all  other  Christians  who  would  work 
with  them  in  the  eradication  of  religious  error  and  the 
enlightenment  of  men  by  "  the  Word  of  God,  that  liveth 
and  abideth  forever."  For  what  the  Unitarian  Churches 
have  done  of  this  work  they  have  reason  to  be  thankful, 
and  would  heartily  co-operate  with  them  in  every  effort 
to  this  desirable  and  heavenly  end.  The  literary  cul- 
ture and  scholarship  contributed  by  Unitarians  to  the 
theological  thought  of  the  last  half-century,  as  also 
the  faithful  and  efficient  work  which  they  have  accom- 
plished, are,  we  think,  justly  appreciated  by  Universal- 
ists.  They  would  render  to  all  their  dues,  while  they 
would  humbly  but  righteously  claim  their  own.  It  has 
been  a  subject  of  regret  on  their  part,  —  this  was  inevi- 
table, —  that  in  consideration  of  the  Rationalism,  so- 
called,  which  has  so  marked  this  period,  Unitarians 
could  not  have  taken  a  more  positive  and  united  stand 
in  regard  to  the  Divine  authority  of  Christianity,  as 
made  known  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments.  Since  Rev.  Theodore  Parker  avowed  his 
Rationalism,  and  began  his  Sunday  worship  service  in 
Boston,  it  has  seemed  to  most  Universalists,  as  it  has  to 
not  a  few  Unitarians,  that  a  more  definite  theology  and 
an  avowed  basis  of  its  claims  have  been  called  for  on  the 
part  of  those  who  would  displace  old  errors  and  estab- 
lish the  older  truth  of  the  Christian  Gospel ;  so  that 
when  the  question  is  honestly  asked,  as  it  often  may  be, 
"  What  is  the  difference  between  Universalism  and 
Unitarianism  ? "  the  answer  need  not  necessarily  be 
another  question,  "  What  kind  of  Unitarianism  ?  "    Such 


46  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

a  diversity  of  opinion  as  must  abound  where  there  is 
no  theological  basis  of  Christian  fellowship  in  any  sect 
or  fraternity,  must  fail  to  give  it  that  concentrated 
power  of  Christian  truth  so  evidently  needed  to  turn  a 
perverted  world  right  side  up  in  its  religious  faith  and 
life. 

The  Universalist  Church  has  all  along  been  aware  of 
this  need  of  a  substantial  basis  of  Christian  faith  in 
order  to  its  vitality  and  success.  When  the  Rationalism 
of  Mr.  Parker  was  attracting  the  attention  of  the  pub- 
lic, a  vigorous  discussion  came  up  in  the  Universalist 
journals  of  the  time,  whether  a  man  should  be  sustained 
as  a  Christian  minister  who  denies  the  peculiarly  divine 
character  of  Christ  and  the  account  given  of  his  miracles 
in  the  Scriptures,  and  of  his  resurrection  from  the  dead.1 
The  adjourned  session  of  the  "  Boston  Association  "  at 
Cambridgeport  in  December,  18-17,  gave  special  atten- 
tion to  this  subject.  The  resolution  presented  at  a 
former  session  a  few  months  before  at  Lynn,  and  now 
again  reported,  was  this  :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Association  express  its  solemn  con- 
viction that,  in  order  for  one  to  be  regarded  as  a  Christian 
minister  with  respect  to  faith,  he  must  believe  in  the  Bible 
account  of  the  life,  teachings,  miracles,  death,  and  resurrec- 
tion of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

The  resolution  was  sustained  by  a  very  large  majority 
of  the  clergy  and  laity.     It  was  a  plain  and  honest  ut- 

1  Mr.  Parker's  views  were  the  subject  of  special  note  and  exami- 
nation on  the  part  of  the  Universalist  journals.  A  candid  and  able 
review  of  his  opinions  was  given  in  "  The  Universalist  Miscellany  "  of 
April,  1845,  by  the  editor,  Rev.  O.  A.  Skinner.  Rev.  Mr.  Lothrop,  of 
the  Brattle  Square  Church  (Unitarian),  delivered  and  published  a  strong 
discourse  in  opposition  to  the  Rationalism  of  Mr.  Parker. 


UNI  VERSALISM.  —  UNITARIANISM.  -  RA  TIONALISM.     47 

terance,  and  gave  the  Christian  world  to  understand  the 
position  of  the  Universalist  Church  in  regard  to  authori- 
tative Christianity. 

As  might  have  been  expected,  there  was  still  much 
discussion  as  to  the  grounds  of  true  Christian  fellow- 
ship. It  was  followed  up  quite  earnestly  for  a  time  by 
Universalists.  The  question  of  chief  interest  was,  "  Is 
not  the  faith  of  the  heart  (affections)  of  more  impor- 
tance than  the  faith  of  the  intellect?"  Shall  not  the 
good  man  have  Christian  fellowship  whatever  his  theo- 
logical opinions  may  be  ?  In  the  light  of  the  apostolic 
statement,  "  The  letter  killeth,  it  is  the  spirit  that  giveth 
life,"  is  not  the  spirit  of  primary  interest,  and  the  letter 
comparatively  inconsequential  ?  To  which  it  was  re- 
plied that  the  spirit  of  a  religion  is  to  be  most  clearly 
understood  by  the  letter  which  explains  it ;  that  the 
faith  of  the  intellect  and  that  of  the  heart  should  cor- 
respond, in  order  to  the  most  perfect  Christian  disciple- 
ship  ;  that  the  good  man  may  be  found  in  all  religious 
communities,  but  that  a  good  Mohammedan  or  Brahman 
could  not  properly  claim  Christian  fellowship,  not  receiv- 
ing Christ  as  the  pre-eminent  teacher  of  divine  truth. 
Dr.  A.  P.  Peabody,  of  the  Unitarian  Church,  very  fairly 
stated  the  subject  in  a  discourse  given  by  him  at  the 
time  of  which  we  speak  :  — 

"  One  question  is,  whether  those  who  take  opposite  views 
of  the  authenticit}7  of  the  Christian  miracles  shall  recognize 
each  other  as  good  men  ;  and  the  other,  whether  they  shall 
give  each  other  countenance  as  Christian  teachers.  The 
former  question  I  am  prepared  to  answer  with  a  cordial  yes  ; 
the  latter,  with  an  unhesitating  and  an  unqualified  no."  1 

1  Anti-Supernaturalism,  a  sermon  delivered  July  13,  1845,  before  the 
Senior  Class  of  the  Divinity  School,  Harvard  University. 


48  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

About  the  same  time  there  appeared  in  the  "  Univer- 
salist  Quarterly  "  for  October,  1846,  from  the  pen  of  its 
able  editor,  Rev.  Dr.  Hosea  Ballou,  an  article  on  "  The 
Faith  requisite  to  Christian  Fellowship."  The  subject 
is  sounded  to  its  depths,  and  presented  in  all  its  bear- 
ings, clear  as  light,  and  plain  and  conclusive  as  logic 
cun  make  it  ;  and  all  in  a  spirit  of  the  utmost  candor. 
It  has  never  been  answered. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  speak  in  this  connection  of 
one  who,  in  the  beginning  of  his  public  life,  appeared  as 
a  minister  in  the  Unitarian  communion,  but  who  after- 
wards very  conscientiously  left  the  ministry  and  became 
a  literary  author  and  public  lecturer,  and  who  acquired 
a  fame  everywhere  acknowledged  in  the  civilized  world 
as  one  of  its  eminent  lights  and  leaders,  Mr.  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson.  As  an  author,  lecturer,  and  reformer  he  has 
made  an  indelible  impression  on  the  minds  of  men  dur- 
ing the  last  half  century.  The  foremost  thinkers  ac- 
knowledged their  indebtedness  to  him.  In  his  earlier 
days  many  of  his  statements  indicated  pantheistic 
opinions.  His  discourse  before  the  Divinity  School 
in  Harvard  University  in  1838  —  so  clearly  and  ably 
replied  to  by  Rev.  Dr.  Ware  —  seemed  a  singular  ques- 
tioning of  the  personality  of  God,  and  his  statements  in 
reference  to  the  personal  immortality  of  the  soul  hardly 
indicated  a  strong  Christian  hope  of  this  blessing.  But 
in  his  later  expressions  of  opinion  we  are 'differently 
taught.  His  biographer  says  of  him : 2  "  He  is  not  a 
sceptic  or  a  rationalist  in  the  philosophic  sense,  and  has 
no  real  affinity  with  any  of  these  schools  of  thought." 
His  own  words,  indicative  of  the  Deity,  are  :  "  Nature 
is  too  thin  a  screen ;  the  glory  of  the  Creator  breaks  in 

1  Biography  of  Ralph  "Waldo  Emerson,  hy  G.  W.  Cook. 


VNIVERSALISM.  —  UNITARIANISM.  —  RA  TIONALISM.     49 

everywhere.  There  is  no  chance,  no  anarchy  in  the 
universe."  Of  the  divine  beneficence  he  says,  "  We 
see  the  steady  aim  of  benefit  in  view  from  the  first. 
Melioration  is  the  law.  The  evils  we  suffer  will  at  last 
end  themselves,  through  the  incessant  opposition  of 
Nature  to  everything  hurtful."  And  of  immortality, 
"  All  great  natures  delight  in  stability  ;  all  great  men 
find  eternity  affirmed  in  the  very  promise  of  their  facul- 
ties. The  being  that  can  share  a  thought  and  a  feeling 
so  sublime  as  confidence  in  truth  is  no  mushroom ;  our 
dissatisfaction  with  any  other  solution  is  the  blazing 
evidence  of  immortality."  And  of  the  divine  ruling : 
"  Every  wrong  is  punished  ;  no  moral  evil  can  prosper 
at  last ;  the  good  is  absolute,  the  evil  only  phenome- 
nal." And  of  the  significance  of  Christ,  this  language 
is  emphatic  :  "  You  must  not  leave  out  the  word  Chris- 
tian, for  to  leave  out  that  is  to  leave  out  everything." 

All  these  declarations,  as  we  apprehend  them,  are  in 
perfect  accord  with  the  teaching,  spirit,  and  assurance 
of  the  Universalism  of  the  New  Testament.  In  the 
grandest  conceptions  to  which  their  author  has  given 
utterance,  we  know  of  nothing  that  reaches  beyond 
this,  and  it  is  for  this  that  we  welcome  him  as  a  wit- 
ness to  the  truth  of  the  Christian  Gospel. 


50  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

REFORM   MOVEMENTS    AND    UNIVERS  A.LISM. 

"  Universalism  is  the  ultimate  of  every  expansive  thought,  of  every 
comprehensive  sympathy,  of  all  action  that  embraces  man  as  man,  and 
works  in  faith  for  the  world's  redemption."  —  Rev.  E.  G.  Brooks,  D.D. 

r  I  "HE  increasing  interest  awakened  by  the  discussion 
■*•  of  such  topics  of  reform  as  peace,  temperance, 
human  freedom,  the  treatment  of  criminals,  and  others 
involving  the  moral  uplifting  and  advancement  of  man- 
kind, very  naturally  had  its  effect  upon  the  Universalist 
Church.  There  were  not  a  few  in  it  who  saw  very 
clearly  that  the  great  Gospel  in  which  they  believed 
was  in  the  world  to  do  a  regenerative  work  with  the 
human  family  ;  that  its  first  word  to  every  one  to  whom 
it  came  was  the  call  to  reformation  of  character  and 
life  ;  that  it  was  a  direct  and  perpetual  opposition  to 
all  that  hinders  this  work,  and  that  therefore  they  who 
profess  to  be  its  friends  and  advocates  should  embrace 
every  opportunity  of  applying  its  heavenly  forces  to  the 
diminishing  of  human  wrong  and  the  establishing  of  the 
reign  of  righteousness  in  the  earth.  As  other  churches 
were  awakened  and  agitated  on  these  reform  questions,  so 
was  this  one,  and  in  due  time  it  took  its  stand  and  made 
its  manifestations  in  a  way  creditable  to  its  profession, 
and  in  accordance  with  its  hopeful  and  catholic  faith. 


REFORM  MOVEMENTS  AND   UNIVERSALISM.        51 

One  of  the  organizations  for  the  furtherance  of  this 
work  of  Christian  reform  instituted  by  this  church 
was  that  of  the  Universalist  Reform  Association.  The 
first  direct  action  taken  in  reference  to  the  subject  was 
at  the  session  of  the  Massachusetts  Universalist  Conven- 
tion in  Hingham,  June,  18-iG,  when  the  following  reso- 
lution offered  by  Rev.  C.  H.  Fay,  of  Roxbury,  was 
unanimously  adopted  :  — 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Convention  recommend  to  the  Univcr- 
salists  of  New  England  to  form  an  Association  to  be  known 
as  the  New  England  Universalist  Reform  Association,  which 
shall  meet  annually  in  Boston  dining  'Anniversary  Week,' 
having  for  its  object  the  collection  of  such  statistical  infor- 
mation relative  to  the  various  reform  movements  of  the  age  as 
illustrates  not  only  the  progress  of  Christianity  as  we  under- 
stand it,  but  the  best  means  of  promoting  and  applying  it." 

A  committee  was  chosen  to  carry  the  resolution  into 
effect.  An  appointed  sub-committee  issued  a  circular, 
urging  upon  all  interested,  attention  to  the  main  objects 
of  the  Association,  which  were  :  — 

"1.  To  consider  the  influence  of  Universalist  sentiments  in 
the  various  reform  movements  of  the  age.  It  must  be  evi- 
dent that  these  sentiments  are  not  essentially  confined  to  the 
sect  which  openly  professes  them.  We  hold  that  they  lie 
at  the  foundation  of  every  true  effort  for  the  prevalence  of 
Temperance,  Love,  Peace,  Freedom,  and  all  movements 
which  recognize  the  Paternity  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood 
of  Man.  To  establish  the  truth  of  the  ultimate  connection 
of  these  doctrines  with  all  the  philanthropic  action  of  our 
age,  to  collect  statistics  and  facts  which  demonstrate  it,  and 
to  exchange  sentiments  upon  the  subject,  constitute  one  great 
object  of  the  Association. 


52  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

"2.  To  assume  our  appropriate  position  in  relation  to  these 
reforms  ;  to  exert  our  legitimate  influence  in  them  ;  and  to 
show  in  our  actions  the  practical  conclusion  of  Universalist 
premises,  — that  he  who  believes  in  God's  universal  Paternity 
and  the  Brotherhood  of  the  race  cannot  in  any  way  counte- 
nance War,  Intemperance,  Slavery,  or  Capital  Punishment, 
but  consistently  opposes  and  strives  to  abolish  them  all. 

"  The  time  of  holding  the  meeting,  too,  deserves  consider- 
ation. It  is  on  Anniversary  Week,  a  week  when  almost 
every  moral  question  now  agitating  the  civilized  world  is 
represented  and  discussed  in  Boston.  Hitherto  we  have 
sent  out  no  such  influence  on  this  occasion  as  we  believe  we 
may  exert  if  our  power  shall  be  concentrated  and  put  in 
operation.  We  see  not  wiry  our  Reform  meetings  may  not 
be  among  the  most  interesting  of  all  now  held  during  this 
well-known  season."  l 

And  the}T  were.  They  began  successfully,  and  were 
steadily  and  profitably  held,  up  to  1859,  during  years 
when  these  vital  moral  questions  were  more  intensely 
considered  and  debated  in  New  England  and  throughout 
our  land  than  at  any  previous  period.  Very  carefully 
prepared  and  able  reports  were  year  by  year  presented 
to  the  Association,  and  resolutions  involving  the  merits 
of  these  reformatory  topics  freely  and  amicably  dis- 
cussed. Often  in  other  meetings,  conventions,  associa- 
tions, conferences,  where  ecclesiastical  matters  claimed 
the  chief  attention,  the  introduction  of  these  reform- 
atory subjects  would  cause  uneasiness  and  elicit  much 
fault-finding  on  the  part  of  those  opposed  to  the  intro- 
duction of  such  agitative  themes  into  these  meetings 
of  the  church.     But  at  the  yearly  assemblings  of  the 

1  This  circular  was  signed  by  the  sub-committee,  Rev.  J.  G.  Adams 
aud  Rev.  E.  H.  Chapin. 


REFORM  MOVEMENTS  AND   UNIVERSALISM.        53 

Reform  Association  the  largest  liberty  was  taken  by  all 
who  desired  to  express  their  opinions  on  these  great 
questions  of  the  day. 

The  first  meeting  was  a  success.  It  was  held  in  the 
Second  Universalist  Church,  School  Street,  on  Thurs- 
day, May  27,  1847.  Four  addresses  were  given  on 
these  subjects,  Peace,  Criminal  Reform,  Temperance, 
and  Human  Freedom,  and  appropriate  resolutions  dis- 
cussed and  adopted.  In  connection  with  this  session  a 
social  festival  was  held  on  Friday  morning,  and  was  an 
occasion  of  unusual  enjoyment  to  all  who  took  part  in  it. 
The  historian,  Richard  Frothingham,  Esq.,  presided,  and 
made  an  admirable  opening  address.  He  was  followed 
by  others,  among  them  Chapin,  then  of  rising  fame. 
Pretending  to  have  in  hand  only  "skirts  and  fragments 
of  ideas,"1  he  magically  forms  them  into  completeness, 
and  endues  them  with  power.  He  speaks  of  Christian- 
ity and  Reform  :  — 

"  Christianity  has  not  changed  or  added  anything  to  itself. 
But  we  find  in  it  latent  truths ;  we  discern  new  meaning  in 
old  truths.  His  eye  had  rested  that  very  morning  upon  the 
passage  which  Jesus  read  in  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth : 
'  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  hath 
anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor ;  he  hath  sent 
me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to  the 
captives,  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  lib- 
erty them  that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of 
the  Lord.'  What  a  profound  meaning  docs  this  passage 
receive  now,  in  the  light  of  these  stirring  reforms  !  How 
does  the  truth  open  before  us,  vast  and  deep  as  the  blue 
heaven  over  our  heads!  Christianity  authorizes  and  ani- 
mates these  social  movements.  Its  social  spirit  and  its  labors 
of  love  make  us  live  more  in  a  year  than  elsewhere  in  a  life- 


54  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

time.  The  earl}'  fathers  of  our  faith  began  their  labor  in  the 
early  morning,  when  the  light  of  the  truth  the}'  announced 
just  tinged  the  mountain-tops  ;  and  now,  as  they  are  about 
vanishing  from  our  horizon,  the  full  effulgence  shines  upon 
their  gray  hairs,  and  makes  them  a  crown  of  glory  !  " 

The  venerable  Ballon  made  the  concluding  speech. 
His  words  were  modest,  sweet,  and  patriarchal.  From 
that  ancient  saying  of  Jesus,  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  like  unto  leaven,  which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in 
three  measures  of  meal,  till  the  whole  was  leavened," 
he  brought  out  fresh  and  comprehensive  words  inspired 
by  the  scenes  of  yesterday  and  to-day,  and  eloquently 
urged  home  the  admonition  to  his  denominational  chil- 
dren around  him,  that  they  should  seek  to  accomplish 
all  their  reformatory  work  in  the  spirit  of  Christian 
love.  He  concluded,  and  at  the  word  of  the  president 
"The  Brave  Old  Oak"  was  sung,  and  responded  to  by 
the  applause  of  the  audience. 

From  year  to  year,  as  these  meetings  occurred,  there 
was  a  strong  interest  in  them.  They  were  meetings 
where  freedom  of  speech  was  welcomed  and  enjoyed. 
The  most  searching  inquiry  was  invited,  and  the  pro  et 
contra  of  every  resolution  offered  was  presented  in  all 
the  earnestness  in  which  the  debaters  deemed  it  their 
privilege  to  indulge.  The  resolutions  at  the  first  meet- 
ings of  the  Association  indicate  its  Christian  basis. 
They  are  expressive  of  '"gratitude  to  God  in  view  of 
the  development  of  our  faith  in  all  the  great  reform 
movements  of  the  time  :  that  we  recognize  the  Word 
of  God.  especially  the  New  Testament  scripture,  as  the 
basis  of  all  genuine  reform  ;  that  an  age  as  prolific  as 
is  the  present  in  schemes  for  the  improvement  of  the 


REFORM  MOVEMENTS  AND   UNIVERSALISM.        55 

race,  including  such  variety,  from  the  most  reasonable  to 
the  most  Utopian,  demands  of  every  Christian  the  most 
candid  and  prayerful  discrimination,  that  all  his  endeav- 
ors may  be  wisely  directed  ;  that  in  these  movements 
we  discern  the  promise  of  a  better  time  coming,  and  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  upon  the  earth  ;  that  as  religious 
sentiment  is  the  controlling  element  of  man's  life,  there- 
fore the  only  true  reform  is  that  which  seeks  to  influ- 
ence men  through  the  medium  of  religious  faith." 

In  discussing  topics  involving  the  morals  of  politics 
and  the  great  interests  of  the  American  Republic,  the 
members  of  all  political  parties  were  regarded  as  on 
equal  ground.  The  minister  in  these  meetings  had 
no  hesitancy  in  preaching  the  morals  of  politics  as  he 
understood  them,  whatever  the  opinions  of  his  parish- 
ioners at  home  might  be.  The  religion  of  Christianity 
was  ';  mixed  "  with  politics  as  the  larger  quantity,  and 
wrong,  as  wrong,  arraigned  wherever  it  might  be  found 
in  church  or  state,  in  social  or  individual  habit  or  life. 
Our  public  servants  in  their  high  places  were  deemed 
subjects  of  note  and  animadversion,  if  their  conduct 
seemed  to  call  for  it,  in  the  spirit  of  the  prayer  offered 
by  the  elder  Dr.  Beecher  in  Faneuil  Hall :  "  O  Lord, 
preserve  us  from  speaking  evil  of  our  public  servants, 
and  especialty  save  them  from  such  wrong  conduct  as 
may  call  for  such  speaking  on  our  part!  "  A  resolution 
passed  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Association  states 
"that,  while  the  early  Christians  were  only  subjects, 
American  citizens  are  the  constituents  of  civil  govern- 
ment; and  in  all  ages  Christians  are  bound  to  act  the 
Christian  principles  in  all  their  relations." 

During  the  anti-slavery  excitement,  when  the  hunters 
for  fugitive  slaves  were  desecrating  the  ground  of  New 


56  FIFTY  NOTABLE  YEARS. 

England,  and  members  of  Congress  in  their  interests 
were  repealing  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  many  of 
the  ministers  of  New  England  were  bold  enough  to 
remonstrate  with  them  for  such  action,  these  most 
emphatic  resolutions  were  freely  debated  and  unani- 
mously adopted  by  the  Association. 

"Resolved,  That  the  clergymen  of  New  England,  in  their 
Protest  against  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  have 
pledged  themselves  anew  to  freedom  and  the  laws  of  God  ; 
that  this  Association  cordially  approve  the  course  of  those 
who  signed  the  Protest,  or  otherwise  labored  to  prevent  the 
desecration  of  that  vast  territory  which  had  been  consecrated 
by  solemn  compact  to  liberty  forever ;  and  we  request  those 
Christian  ministers  who  refused  to  sign  that  Protest  to  review 
their  position  in  regard  to  this  subject. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  men  from  the  North,  and  especially 
from  New  England,  who  have  voted  for  the  iniquitous  Nebraska 
Bill,  have  proved  themselves  traitors  to  the  cause  of  freedom 
and  to  the  most  hallowed  traditions  of  our  fathers,  and  that 
their  conduct  deserves  the  united,  unqualified,  perpetual 
reprobation  of  all  friends  to  human  rights,  which  reproba- 
tion should  be  emphatically  expressed  at  the  ballot-box." 

The  annual  festivals  held  in  those  days  in  Boston  by 
the  Universalists  were  essentially  pervaded  by  the  spirit 
of  this  Association.  The  sentiments,  songs,  and  speeches 
on  these  occasions  were  alive  with  the  reformatory  in- 
spiration of  the  Christian  Gospel.  The  signs  of  the 
times  were  clearly  recognized  by  the  speakers,  and 
whatever  the  especial  excitement  of  the  day  might  be, 
it  was  sure  to  find  a  sympathetic  tongue  and  ear  at  the 
festival  table.  The  festival  in  1854  occurring  about 
the  time  of  the  rendition  of  Anthony  Burns,  the  anti- 


REFORM  MOVEMENTS  AND   UNIVERSALISM.        57 

slavery  feeling  was  at  white  heat.  When  the  company- 
entered  Faneuil  Hall  and  were  taking  their  seats,  some 
sensitively  conservative  brethren  could  not  suppress  the 
expression  of  their  wishes  that  no  allusion  might  be 
made  to  that  event  in  the  addresses  about  to  follow- 
But  the  current  was  so  irresistibly  in  one  direction  that 
these  fearful  pleadings  were  as  the  smallest  eddies 
therein.  The  notes  of  freedom  made  the  old  hall 
ring. 


58  FIFTY  NOTABLE  YEARS. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

NEW   ENGLAND   ANTI-SLAVEET   SOCIETY.  —  UNIVEK- 
SALIST   PKOTEST. 

"What  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial."—  II.  Cor.  vi.  15. 

'THHE  New  England  Anti-Slavery  Society  was  one  of 
-*-  the  most  vigorous  and  persistent  bodies  that  ever 
appeared  on  these  western  shores  as  a  reformatory  in- 
stitution. Its  chief  leader  was  the  indomitable  Garri- 
son, who  had  vowed  that  on  the  vexed  question  of 
American  slavery  "  he  would  be  heard,"  and  whose 
"  Liberator  "  was  making  its  journe}rs  from  a  Boston 
press  throughout  the  land  ;  hailed  and  patronized  by  a 
goodly  company  in  the  North,  denounced  as  incendiary 
at  the  South,  where  a  large  sum  was  offered  for  the 
head  of  its  editor.  He  had  sympathetic  companions  of 
a  persistency  equal  to  his  own :  Wendell  Phillips,  Ed- 
mund Quincy,  Samuel  E.  Sewell,  N.  P.Rogers,  Stephen 
C.  Foster,  John  Pierpont,  Theodore  Parker,  Parker 
Pillsbury,  Frederick  Douglass,  and  C.  L.  Remond,  among 
the  men  of  New  England,  and  the  Tappans  of  New  York, 
and  representatives  at  the  annual  gatherings  from 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  Washington.  Lucretia 
Mott  and  Abby  Kelley  (afterwards  Mrs.  Foster)  were 
among  the  women  expounders  of  this  gospel  of  freedom, 
and  "  Anniversary  Week  "  in  Boston  was  made  espe- 


NEW  ENGLAND  ANTI-SLAVERY  SOCIETY.  59 

cially  notable  by  their  gatherings  at  Marlboro  Chapel 
and  Faneuil  Hall.  No  matter  what  other  meetings  on 
that  week  were  dull,  there  was  always  an  exuberance 
of  liveliness  at  the  Anti-Slavery  Convention.  "  Elo- 
quence is  dog-cheap  at  Marlboro  Chapel,"  said  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson ;  and  it  was.  No  better  could  be 
heard  on  the  continent.  The  hardest  and  boldest  reso- 
lutions were  usually  up  for  consideration,  denouncing 
slaveholders  and  all  their  abettors,  political,  ecclesiasti- 
cal, of  whatever  standing  or  profession.  Church  and 
state  alike  were  subjects  of  their  maledictions.  Their 
defiance  of  all  opposition  had  a  clarion  ring  in  it.  Noth- 
ing pleased  them  more  than  to  have  their  positions 
questioned  or  assailed.  The  adventurous  wight  who 
was  willing  to  appear  as  a  contemner  of  their  doctrines 
was  .the  very  one  for  whom  they  were  looking,  and  for 
whose  presence  and  opposition  they  were  profoundly 
thankful.  Their  meetings  were  electrifying.  Such  de- 
bates and  orations,  such  questionings  and  rejoinders  ! 
Such  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  too,  sung  often  by  the 
Hutchinsons  to  the  old  tunes  of  k*  Amherst,"  "  Lenox," 
and  "New  Jerusalem!"  We  hear  them  now;  they 
brought  the  shouts  and  tears. 

We  remember  a  scene  in  Marlboro  Chapel  one  after- 
noon during  Anniversary  Week.  There  came  up  for 
debate  the  question :  "  Does  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  justify  slavery?"  Rev.  John  Pierpont 
took  the  negative,  and  very  logically  maintained  it  for 
more  than  an  hour.  He  appeared  in  the  greatness  of 
his  strength,  and  at  the  close  of  his  argument  proposed 
to  those  of  his  auditors  who  wished,  to  question  his 
statements.  And  never  was  seen  a  hungrier  company 
of  interrogators  than  then  and  there  came  upon  him. 


^60  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

But  he  was  unmoved  as  a  sea-rock  in  the  midst  of  the 
breakers.  His  side  of  the  question  was  not  popular 
with  most  of  the  speakers  and  their  sympathizers  there, 
and  he  was  subjected  to  a  most  searching  cross-ques- 
tioning. But  he  came  out  triumphantly  (as  it  seemed) 
through  it  all.  When  three  or  four  would  speak  at 
once,  he  would  say  :  "  One  at  a  time,  friends ;  the  mil- 
ler's rule  holds,  —  first  come,  first  served.  I  desire 
to  hear  you  all."  The  afternoon  sunshine  suddenly 
blazing  in  from  one  of  the  windows  upon  his  face,  he 
aptly  remarked :  "  Some  subjects  are  involved  in  im- 
penetrable darkness  ;  but  here  we  seem  to  have  a  super- 
abundance of  light !  "  When  the  last  inquirer  had  been 
answered,  the  speaker  asked  :  "  Are  you  all  through  ?  " 
And  no  other  one  questioning,  he  said :  "  And  now, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  good  old  divines,  I  come  to  the 
'Improvement';"  under  which  head  he  carefully  and 
briefly  reviewed  the  substance  of  the  debate.  It  was  a 
masterly  plea. 

But  the  end  was  not  yet.  There  was  an  evening 
meeting.  Again  the  hall  was  filled,  to  listen  to  a  reply 
to  Mr.  Pierpont  by  Wendell  Phillips.  The  orator  was 
in  his  best  mood,  and  his  silvery  speech  kept  the  audi- 
ence spell-bound.  It  was  a  complete  refutation  of  the 
arguments  adduced  in  the  afternoon.  A  clergyman 
sitting  near  to  Mr.  Pierpont  said  to  him  :  "  How  can 
his  arguments  be  answered  ?  "  to  which  the  latter  re- 
plied :  "  I  should  like  to  see  the  man  who  could  tell 
me !  "  So  Greek  met  Greek  in  those  stirring  and  stormy 
days. 

It  was  an  up-hill  movement,  this  anti-slavery  agita- 
tion. It  called  out  spirits  of  more  colors  than  those 
mentioned  in  "  Macbeth."     The  opposition  was  intense. 


NEW  ENGLAND  ANTI-SLAVERY  SOCIETY.  01 

Garrison's  life  was  in  peril  in  the  streets  of  Boston  in 
1835,  and  a  little  company  of  his  sympathizers,  including 
the  poet  Whittier  and  George  Thompson,  the  English 
philanthropist,  were  closely  followed  in  the  streets  of 
Concord,  N.  H.,  one  evening,  that  they  might  be  seized 
by  certain  mobocratic  ones,  and  subjected  to  an  immer- 
sion in  some  liquid  coloring  of  transient,  if  not  indeli- 
ble, black  ;  but  the  hounded  ones  escaped,  preserving 
white  men's  complexions.  They  were  not  to  be  pnt 
down  by  mobs  nor  frightened  by  any  human  opposition. 
They  had  the  spirit  of  Luther  as  he  went  to  the  Diet 
at  Worms.  Though  the  pro-slavery  "  devils  were  thick 
as  the  tiles  on  the  houses,"  they  proposed  to  fight  them 
in  the  name  of  God  and  humanity. 

Politicians  could  do  nothing  with  them,  and  the 
churches  generally  discarded  them.  There  was  no  love 
lost,  however,  between  them  and  the  churches.  The 
churches  did  not  give  them  credit  for  the  good  they 
were  seeking  to  do,  and  they  had  no  words  of  approval 
for  the  humanity  of  the  churches.  Even  the  National 
Constitution  was  denounced  as  "  a  covenant  with  death 
and  an  agreement  with  hell,"  and  the  churches  were 
accused  as  upholders  of  this  covenant.  So  they  rea- 
soned, not  always,  however,  in  that  charity  which  the 
New  Testament  commends.  There  were  those  in  the 
churches  as  strongly  opposed  to  slavery  as  themselves, 
—  but  they  were  slow  to  recognize  action  against  it 
outside  of  their  own  organizations,  —  who  could  say,  as 
did  Dr.  Gannett  of  the  Unitarian  Church  :  — 

"In  principle  I  am  with  you.  But  there  are  those  with 
whom  you  are  connected,  persons  who  seem  to  me  so  to  dis- 
trust the  goodness  of  all  others  who  differ  from  them,  and  to 
look  down  upon  all  such  with  so  great  a  consciousness  of 


G2  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

moral  superiorit}*,  that  I  feel  myself  when  in  their  presence 
to  be  in  a  situation  not  unlike  that  of  a  criminal  before  his 
accuser  and  judge."  1 

At  one  time  they  held  an  Anti-Sabbath  Convention 
for  a  few  days,  in  Boston,  during  which  they  said  many 
hard  things  against  the  sanctity  of  this  seventh-day 
worship-time,  evidently  because  they  could  thus  casti- 
gate the  churches  for  refusing  to  discuss  freely  on  this 
day  the  crying  sin  of  American  slavery.  It  seemed  a 
pity  to  hear  such  harsh  denunciations  by  the  speakers 
who  were  advocating  a  righteous  cause,  against  an  insti- 
tution that  had  done  so  much  towards  the  world's  true 
civilization.  But  this  was  one  of  their  methods  of  car- 
rying on  the  reform. 

A  leading  spirit  in  this  movement  in  the  "  Granite 
State  "  was  Nathaniel  P.  Rogers,  for  a  few  years  the 
editor  of  the  "  Herald  of  Freedom,"  issued  at  Concord, 
N.  IT.  He  was  a  lawyer  of  Plymouth,  Grafton 
County,  and  a  member  of  the  Orthodox  Church 
in  that  town,  and  was  a  descendant  of  him  who 
was  burned  at  Smithfield,  and  had  the  martyr  spirit 
of  his  noted  ancestor.  He  was  a  scholarly,  witty, 
and  affable  man,  and  wielded  as  facile  a  pen  as  any 
editor  in  New  England.  In  many  of  his  descriptive 
sketches  he  gave  to  the  scenery  of  New  Hampshire  a 
fascination  equal  to  that  with  which  Sir  Walter  Scott 
invests  the  lochs  and  hills  of  Scotland.  His  plea  with 
Mr.  Webster,  the  great  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  to 
let  "  his  lion  voice  in  one  Numidian  roar  "  be  heard 
from  his  place  in  Congress  on  the  abomination  of  Amer- 
ican slavery  and  the  claims  of  American  freedom,  once 
read,  could  never  be  forgotten.     When  his  "  Herald  of 

1  Memoir  of  Dr.  Gannett,  by  his  son,  p.  294. 


NEW  ENGLAND  ANTI-SLAVERY  SOCIETY.  63 

Freedom  "  was  first  issued,  some  of  the  stage-drivers  from 
Concord  refused  to  carry  it  out  to  the  subscribers  ;  but 
this  hostility,  through  the  personal  influence  of  the 
editor,  soon  ceased.  Its  columns  were  opened  to  all 
sorts  of  radical  sayings  against  the  churches  because  of 
their  presumed  hostility  to  human  freedom  ;  but  as  the 
columns  of  the  paper  were  free,  there  were  sometimes 
sound  and  strong  answers  to  them.  Mr.  Rogers,  worn 
out  with  mental  toiling  and  anxiety,  was  culled  from 
the  earthly  life  in  the  midst  of  his  years. 

And  so  this  work  of  the  anti-slavery  reformers  went 
steadily  forward  with  increasing  momentum,  till  a  more 
general  awakening  took  place  all  over  the  land.  The 
churches  were  becoming  more  and  more  alive  to  it,  and 
the  politicians  could  in  no  wise  evade  it.  The  seed  of 
"  Free-Soilism  "  sown,  "  Know-nothingism  "  sprang  up, 
and  one  of  the  two  leading  political  parties  became  the 
party  of  Freedom  —  of  "  free  soil,  free  speech,  free 
men."  The  passage  and  attempted  enforcement  of 
the  Fugitive  Slave  Act,  and  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  had  served  to  bring  about  this  result. 
Hence  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  Presidency, 
secession,  war,  the  downfall  of  slavery.  These  first 
agitators  lived  to  see  the  end  they  had  striven  for  at- 
tained. They  had  been  heard,  and  a  stronger  than  they 
had  heard,  and  had  answered  them,  and  an  imploring 
and  struggling  nation,  "in  the  day  of  his  power!" 
Now  could  one  of  the  first  of  our  poets  sing:  — 

"  Ring  and  swing 
Bells  of  joy  !     On  morning's  wing 
Send  the  song  of  praise  abroad  ! 
With  a  sound  of  broken  chains 
Tell  the  nations  that  he  reigns 
Who  alone  is  Lord  and  God  !  " 


64  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Of  course  the  Universalist  churches  could  not  evade 
this  controversy  between  freedom  and  slaveiy.  Their 
very  faith  invited  and  encouraged  it.  The  Fatherhood 
of  God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man  are  doctrines 
which  forever  stand  in  opposition  to  the  presumption 
that  man  can  own  property  in  his  fellow  man.  Of  all 
the  Christian  sects,  Universalists  were  the  last  who 
couid  countenance  in  the  light  of  their  beneficent  faith 
the  abomination  of  American  slavery.  If  other  theol- 
ogies gave  cause  for  the  aspersion  that  "  God  was  the 
greatest  slaveholder  in  the  universe,"  because  it  was  his 
intention  to  keep  in  spiritual  bondage  and  sufferings 
great  numbers  of  his  offspring  world  without  end, 
Universalism  affirmed  that-  this  whole  human  creation 
now  groaning  and  travailing  in  pain  shall  be  delivered 
from  its  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  glorious  liberty 
of  the  children  of  God.1  Could  this  church,  bearing  its 
own  significant  name,  be  silent,  then,  when  the  test 
time  came  ?  Nay,  it  was  a  golden  opportunity  for  her 
to  speak  and  act.  She  uttered  her  voice,  firmly,  freely, 
faithfully.  True,  there  were  conservatives  at  first  in 
this  church  as  in  others,  who  dreaded  the  consequences 
of  the  agitation  of  this  subject,  who  deemed  it  a  polit- 
ical question  rather  than  a  religious  one,  and  feared  not 
only  discord  and  division  in  the  churches  because  of  it, 
but  a  disruption  of  the  national  union.  This  timidity 
wore  off  in  due  time,  and  this  manifesto  went  forth 
from  the  Universalists  of  Massachusetts  and  other 
States  in  1845.  It  is  a  "protest  against  American 
slavery,"  and  is  signed  by  three  hundred  and  four 
Universalist  clergymen.  The  reasons  stated  as  the 
basis  of  the  protest  are  these  :  — 

i  Heb.  viii.  21,  22. 


NEW  ENGLAND  ANTI-SLAVERY  SOCIETY.  65 

"  1.  Because  slavery  denies  the  eternal  distinction  between 
a  man  and  property,  ranking  a  human  being  with  a  material 
thing.  2.  Because  it  does  not  award  to  the  laborer  the  fruits 
of  his  toil  in  any  higher  sense  than  to  the  cattle.  3  Because 
it  trammels  the  intellectual  powers  and  prevents  their  ex- 
pansion. 4.  Because  it  checks  the  development  of  the  moral 
nature  of  the  slave;  denies  him  rights  and  therefore  responsi- 
bility. 5.  Because  it  involves  a  practical  denial  of  the  religious 
nature  of  the  slave.  G.  Because  it  presents  an  insurmount- 
able barrier  to  the  propagation  of  the  great  truth  of  the 
Universal  Brotherhood  and  thereby  most  effectually  prevents 
the  progress  of  true  Christianity.  7.  Because  the  essential 
nature  of  slavery  cannot  be  altered  by  any  kindness,  how 
great  so  ever,  practised  toward  the  slave.  8.  Because  the 
long  continuance  of  a  system,  of  wrong  cannot  palliate  it, 
but  on  the  other  hand  augments  the  demand  for  its  abolition. 
9.  Because  we  would  in  all  charity  remember  that  peculiar- 
ities of  situation  may  affect  the  judgment  and  moral  sense  ; 
still,  we  must  not  forget  that  no  peculiarity  of  situation  can 
excuse  a  perpetual  denial  of  universal  principles  and  obliga- 
tions." 


66  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

REFORMATORY   PROGRESS. 

"  The  crooked  shall  be  made  straight,  and  the  rough  places  plain."  — 
Isaiah,  xl.  4. 

HHE  half-century  just  passed  has  been  notable-  for 
-*-       the  progress  of  thought  in  reference  to  the  sig- 
nificant reforms  now  claiming  public  attention.     Fore- 
most among  these  is  that  of 

Temperance. 

In  no  other  period  of  the  past  has  its  work  been  so 
marked  and  cheering.  In  Great  Britain  and  America 
its  manifestations  were  almost  simultaneous.  Intem- 
perance was  seen  to  be  a  monstrous  national  vice, 
and  societies  were  formed  for  the  suppression  of  it. 
Abstinence  from  distilled  liquors  was  at  first  the 
pledge  taken  ;  but  subsequent  discussion  of  the  sub- 
ject induced  the  next  and  safer  step  forward,  of  total 
abstinence  from  all  intoxicants.  From  1834  to  1838 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  original  societies  through  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  extended  their  principles  on  the 
new  and  broader  declaration,  and  worked  with  renewed 
enthusiasm.1  The  same  course  was  taken  in  our  own 
country,  and  similar  effects  followed.  The  new  pledge 
was  consistent,  because  it  struck  at  the  root  of  the 
evil. 

1  Chambers'  Miscellany. 


REFORMATORY  PROGRESS.  67 

The  Temperance  reform  enlisted  the  S3*mpathies  of 
Universalists  in  the  beginning.  It  was  a  vindication  of 
the  Gospel  of  enlightened  and  pure  manhood,  main- 
taining its  supremacy  over  the  sinful  inclinations  and 
indulgences  "that  war  against  the  soul."  Indeed,  one 
of  the  first  avowed  advocates  of  the  practice  of  total 
abstinence,  as  early  as  1778,  was  the  well-known  and 
honored  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  one  of  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  a  firm  believer  in 
Christian  Universalism.  He  not  only  advocated  this 
practice  himself,  but  was  especially  interested  in  com- 
mending it  to  the  attention  of  two  religious  bodies  in 
Pennsylvania,  the  Episcopalians  and  Presbyterians,  at 
their  annual  meetings.  When  in  later  days  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Christian  churches  was  called  to  the  con- 
sideration of  this  reform,  no  more  zealous  friends  of 
it  were  found  than  those  among  Universalists.  The 
Universalist  ministry  was  well  represented,  and  its  ser- 
vices welcomed  by  others.  An  instance  is  remembered 
of  a  deserved  tribute,  given  in  his  peculiar  quaintness 
of  speech,  by  the  elder  Dr.  (Lyman)  Beecher,  to  Rev. 
Edwin  Thompson,  at  an  annual  meeting  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Temperance  Society.  Mr.  Thompson  was  State 
agent  for  the  Society,  and  had  been  very  active  in  its 
work  during  the  year  ;  so  that  a  speaker  alluded  to  him 
as  having  been  in  that  time  "  the  main  spoke  in  the 
wheel."  "Indeed,"  said  Dr.  Beecher,  "  it  seems  to  me 
that  he  has  been  the  hub,  and  all  the  spokes,  and  a 
considerable  part  of  the  rim  !  " 

The  reform  in  our  country  was  quickened  by  the 
"  Washingtonian "  movement,  which  involved  the  re- 
formation of  the  inebriate,  and  his  work  to  redeem 
others  from  the  destroyer.     Although  there  were  back- 


68  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

sliders  in  this,  as  in  all  reformatory  movements,  yet  the 
number  of  the  saved  justified  a  thousand  times  the 
interest  taken  in  the  great  work  itself.  It  was  an  indi- 
cation of  what  might  be  done  everywhere  and  in  all 
time  by  Divine  aid,  and  human  will  at  work  relying 
upon  it.  It  seemed  also  to  emphasize  the  truth  that 
men,  however  far  overcome  by  wrong  habit,  are  not 
to  be  given  over  as  irreclaimable.  It  was  in  accord 
with  the  grand  idea  that  there  are  no  lost  ones  so  far 
astray  as  to  be  beyond  the  mercy  which  sent  Him  into 
the  world,  who  said,  "  I  came  nut  to  call  the  righteous 
but  sinners  to  repentance.  They  that  are  whole  need 
not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick." 

Legislation  took  higher  and  stronger  ground  in  ref- 
erence to  the  evil  of  intemperance.  The  subject  went 
into  politics  more  than  ever.  The  doctrine  of  prohib- 
ition gained  advocates.  A  law  favoring  it  was  passed 
in  Massachusetts,  and  afterwards  in  Maine.  "Prosecu- 
tions and  law-suits  followed,  and  appeals  went  up  to 
the  highest  courts  to  test  the  constitutionality  of  the 
law.  This  was  affirmed  by  them,  just  as  the  framers 
of  the  law  knew  that  it  would  be.  Despite  all  sophisms 
and  evasions,  the  common  sense  of  every  man  will 
settle  down  into  the  conviction  that  the  people  of  a 
nation,  if  they  would  be  really  strong  and  free,  must 
employ  every  safeguard  against  this  giant  evil,  that  has 
so  constantly  outraged  and  cursed  our  world. 

The  rising  of  the  women  of  the  West,  in  1873,  to 
suppress  the  demoralizing  work  of  the  liquor-saloons, 
was  an  outspoken,  providential  protest  against  these 
scourges  of  our  civilization.  Jeered  by  the  thoughtless, 
and  insulted  and  cursed  by  the  dealers  in  the  death- 
poison,  it  was  an  indication  that  made  the  traffickers  in 


REFOBMATOBY  PBOGBESS.  69 

strong  drink  thoughtful,  the  friends  of  woman  to  take 
new  note  of  her  righteous  demands  and  of  her  reform- 
atory power,  and  every  true  soldier  in  the  temperance 
army  to  put  on  new  courage  in  view  of  the  many  instru- 
mentalities which  God  is  able  to  raise  up  in  aid  of  His 
redeeming  work  with  His  children.  One  result  of  the 
Woman's  Crusade  has  been  the  formation  of  the  Wom- 
an's Christian  Temperance  Unions  in  all  parts  of  our 
land. 

The  signs  of  progress  in  this  reform  are  more  sig- 
nificant than  ever.  The  popularity  of  the  Prohibitory 
Law  in  Maine  ;  the  Prohibitory  clause  just  put  into 
the  Kansas  and  Iowa  Constitutions,  and  proposed  in 
other  States  ;  the  numerous  Reform  Leagues ;  the 
proposal  to  institute  in  our  Congress  a  thorough  inves- 
tigation in  reference  to  the  bearing  of  this  question  of 
liquor-making  and  vending  on  the  industrial,  social,  and 
political  welfare  of  our  nation;  the  continued  discussion 
of  the  effects  of  the  use  of  intoxicants  by  leading  states- 
men, scientists,  and  medical  professors  of  our  age,  and 
the  bringing  out  of  new  facts,  all  showing  the  vital 
importance  of  the  Temperance  reform  ;  and,  also,  the 
evident  tendency  of  these  movements,  as  apprehended 
by  the  devotees  of  the  liquor  interests  themselves, 
moving  them,  as  at  a  recent  convention  of  brewers 
in  Washington,  to  avow  their  determination  to  defeat, 
if  possible,  by  all  practicable  means,  the  legal,  moral, 
and  especially  the  religious  endeavors  put  forth  against 
the  evil  by  which  they  are  enriched  at  the  expense  of 
the  prosperity,  happiness,  and  peace  of  so  many  millions 
of  our  land,  —  these  facts  are  unmistakable  indications 
of  still  greater  achievements  in  the  days  and  years  to 
come. 


70  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Like  most  reforms,  this  one  must  work  a  long  way 
on  to  its  completion.  The  evil  against  which  it  con- 
tends is  deep-seated  and  far-reaching.  Appetite,  avarice, 
and  the  drinking  usages  of  society  are  its  strongholds. 
But  all  these  are  not  impervious  to  the  inroads  of  the 
right  upon  them.  The  public  conscience  is  awake  to  the 
demands  of  this  reform  as  it  never  was  before.  When 
that  is  more  truthfully  and  generally  educated,  moral 
suasion  will  have  freer  course,  and  restrictive  laws  will 
find  a  stronger  support  everywhere. 

Peace. 

The  history  of  our  race  is  one  of  warfare.  "  Wars 
and  fiffhtingfs  "  have  been  realized  among  men  from  the 
beginning,  and  the  world  has  not  outgrown  the  sanguin- 
ary strife.  Even  during  the  time  of  which  Ave  are 
speaking  in  these  pages,  when  so  much  has  been  done 
for  the  mental  and  moral  enlightenment  of  mankind, 
these  murderous  human  contentions  have  been  going 
on  in  the  Old  World  and  the  New.  Our  own  nation 
lias  passed  through  one  of  the  darkest  passages  of  its 
history.  The  war  of  the  Rebellion  came  of  a  war  that 
existed  previous  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  Southern 
States  of  our  Union,  the  war  of  slavery,  —  for  slavery 
itself  is  war  always,  an  outrage  on  the  rights  of  human 
beings,  perpetrated  by  members  of  a  common  brother- 
hood. And  thus  one  Avar  opened  the  Avay  to  another. 
They  Avho  were  warring  upon  others  could  no  longer 
bear  to  have  their  wrong-doings  questioned,  but  claimed 
the  right  to  multiply  and  perpetuate  them.  So  came 
secession,  so  came  the  fratricidal  contest.  The  major- 
ity of  the  nation  did  not  seek  Avar,  did  not  desire  it. 
But  the    Unionists  of   the   nation    deemed    themselves 


REFORMATORY  PROGRESS.  71 

justified  in  resisting  the  efforts  of  the  secessionists  to 
dismember  the  nation,  and  so  through  a  defensive  war- 
fare sought  to  preserve  the  Union.  It  was  a  terrible 
ordeal,  and  although  the  abomination  of  slavery  was 
swept  away,  it  was  at  the  cost  of  tens  of  thousands  of 
lives,  of  a  vast  amount  of  treasure,  of  suffering  as  yet 
unrevealed,  and  of  a  lamentable  demoralization.  The 
Almighty  brought  out  of  it  a  new  order  of  things  with 
our  nation,  by  abolishing  human  bondage  and  placing 
freedom  in  the  ascendancy.  The  new  order,  however, 
is  not  yet  fully  effected.  It  will  take  time,  wisdom-, 
patience,  mutual  forbearance,  sympathy,  and  fraternal 
help  to  secure  this  result. 

But  one  reform  aids  another.  A  higher  view  of  the 
claims  of  human  freedom  will  tend  to  effect  a  clearer 
perception  of  the  great  claims  of  the  human  brother- 
hood. If  man  is  too  good  to  be  enslaved  by  his  fellow- 
man,  he  is  too  good  to  be  destro}~ed  by  him.  If  human 
freedom  is  sacred,  so  is  human  life.  And  we  are  sure 
that  this  grand  conception  has  been  very  clearly  real- 
ized, and  as  clearly  affirmed,  during  the  middle  of  the 
present  century. 

In  the  midst  of  the  world's  conflicts  during  this  time, 
the  advocates  of  peace  principles,  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic,  have  not  been  inactive.  They  have  had  a 
hearing,  if  a  limited  one,  in  Christendom.  Peace  asso- 
ciations have  been  more  operative  than  before,  and  the 
pulpit  and  press  have  made  new  appeals  to  the  public 
for  the  promotion  of  peace  principles.  Excellent  publi- 
cations in  essay,  sermon,  or  oration  have  been  issued 
from  the  press.  We  hear  of  one  Sunday,  in  1845,  when 
one  hundred  and  twenty  peace  sermons  were  preached 
in  the  city  of  London.     Our  philanthropic  countryman, 


72  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

Elihu  Burritt,  has  done  much  for  this  cause.  One  of 
the  ablest  and  most  admirable  of  appeals  in  behalf  of 
"  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men  "  was  given  in 
1845,  in  Boston,  by  Charles  Sumner,  —  -who  mav  be 
jnstly  reckoned  as  one  of  the  brightest  lights  among 
philanthropists  and  statesmen  of  the  present  century, — 
on  "  The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations."  Moved  by  the 
threatening  aspect  of  affairs  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico,  the  orator  denounced  the  war  system  as 
the  ordeal  by  battle  still  unwisely  continued  by  inter- 
national law  as  the  arbiter  of  justice  between  nations, 
and  insisted  that  this  system  ought  to  give  way  to 
peaceful  arbitration  for  the  settlement  of  international 
questions,  as  the  private  ordeal  of  battle  had  given  way 
to  such  substitutes  in  the  administration  of  justice  be- 
tween individuals.  "The  oration  attracted  unusual 
attention,  led  to  much  controversy,  and  was  widely 
circulated  both  in  America  and  Europe.  It  was  pro- 
nounced by  Richard  Cobden  to  be  '  the  most  ncble 
contribution  made  by  any  modern  writer  to  the  cause  of 
peace.'  "  l 

The  delusion  that  wars  must  always  be  expected 
more  or  less  with  mankind  is  a  vagary  of  barbarism, 
and  not  a  true  Christian  thought.  Rather  is  the  poet 
right,  when  he  says  :  — 

"  War  is  a  game,  which,  were  their  subjects  wise, 
Kings  would  not  play  at." 

Wars  may  be  lessened,  may  be  outgrown  in  human 
societ}\  There  are  better  wa}rs  of  settling  human  dis- 
putes than  by  an  appeal  to  arms.  Facts  in  the  history 
of  our  own  nation  prove  it.    Here  are  a  few  of  them  :  — 

1  New  Amer.  Enc. 


REFORMATORY  PROGRESS.  73 

In  1794,  the  question  of  the  Northeastern  boundary 
between  the  United  States  and  the  dependencies  of 
Great  Britain  was  settled  by  arbitration. 

In  1822,  the  question  of  restitution  or  compensation 
for  slaves  found  on  board  of  British  vessels  during  the 
war  of  1812.  The  mutter  was  referred  to  the  Emperor 
of  Russia,  and  his  award  accepted  by  both  nations. 

In  1858,  a  difficulty  between  the  United  States  and 
the  government  of  Chili  and  Peru,  was  referred  to  the 
arbitration  of  the  King  of  the  Belgians,  and  settled  by 
his  award. 

In  1869,  the  claims  of  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  to  landed  property  in  and  about  Puget  Sound 
were  adjusted  by  peaceable  reference. 

In  1871,  the  well-known  Alabama  claim,  which  caused 
so  much  ill  feeling  between  the  United  States  and  Eng- 
land, and  threatened  to  involve  the  two  countries  in  a 
terrible  war.  President  Grant,  referring  to  the  settle- 
ment of  this  claim,  said  in  his  message  of  Dec.  8,  1871 :  — 

"This  year  has  witnessed  two  great  nations,  having  one 
language  and  lineage,  settling  by  peaceful  arbitration  dis- 
putes of  long  standing,  which  were  liable  at  any  time  to  bring 
nations  to  a  bloody  conflict.  The  example  thus  set,  if  suc- 
cessful in  its  final  issue,  will  be  followed  fry  other  civilized 
nations,  and  finally  be  the  means  of  restoring  to  pursuits  of 
industry  millions  of  men  now  maintained  to  settle  the  dis- 
putes of  nations  by  the  sword." 

Is  this  good  possible  ?  Assuredly,  if  good  is  able  to 
prevail  over  evil,  right  over  wrong,  love  over  hatred. 
And  what  does  the  Christian  Gospel  signify  but  this  : 
"  Peace  on  earth  and  good  will  toward  men  "  ?  This 
"good  will  "  shall  come,  if  Christians  will  do  their  duty 


74  FIFTY  NOTABLE  YEARS. 

by  insisting  on  the  practicability  of  it.  The  under- 
current of  a  better  feeling  is  gaining  force  as  the  great 
truth  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Man  is  more  deeply  and 
extensively  realized.  If  the  present  toiling-time  is  dark, 
there  is  light  beyond  it,  the  unerring  prophecy  of  the 
time  when  "  nations  shall  learn  war  no  more." 

As  said  Victor  Hugo,  at  the  Congress  of  Peace  in 
Paris,  in  1849:  — 

' '  A  day  will  come  when  the  onhy  battle-field  shall  be  the 
market  open  to  commerce  and  the  mind  opening  to  new  ideas  ; 
when  a  cannon  shall  be  exhibited  in  public  museums  just  as 
an  instrument  of  torture  is  now,  and  people  shall  be  aston- 
ished how  such  a  thing  could  have  been.  A  da}-  shall  come 
when  those  two  immense  groups,  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica and  the  United  States  of  Europe,  shall  be  seen  placed  in 
presence  of  each  other,  extending  the  hand  of  fellowship 
across  the  ocean,  exchanging  their  produce,  their  commerce, 
their  industry,  their  arts,  their  genius,  clearing  the  earth, 
peopling  the  deserts,  meliorating  creation  under  the  eyes  of 
the  Creator,  and  uniting,  for  the  good  of  all,  these  two  irre- 
sistible and  infinite  powers,  —  the  fraternity  of  men  and  the 
power  of  God." 

In  agreement  with  the  foregoing  statements  in  refer- 
ence to  the  reform  movements  of  our  time,  we  may  note 
more  briefly  certain  other  indications  of  the  increase  of 
that  spirit  which  would  lessen  the  afflictions  and  wrongs 
and  promote  the  well-being  of  society. 

The   Treatment  of  Criminals 

has  been  a  subject  of  much  thought  and  discussion 
during  the  generation  just  passed.  It  has  been,  and 
still  is,  an  open  question  among  the  more  thoughtful, 
whether  the  subject  of  the  proper  treatment  of  criminals 


REFORMATORY  PROGRESS.  75 

has  been  regarded  aright.  We  may  justly  plead  for 
benevolent  sympathy  without  being  the  apologist  of 
crime.  Conscience  must  be  remembered  as  well  as  the 
cry  of  pitying  tenderness,  and  punishment  must  have 
a  meaning,  or  the  distinctions  of  right  and  wrong  are 
lost.  "  It  will  be  a  sad  day,"  as  one  has  truly  said, 
"  when  those  who  violate  our  laws  are  more  pitied  than 
blamed."  Christians  are  bound  by  their  religion  to 
labor  for  the  prevention  of  crime,  and  for  the  strict  ap- 
plication of  all  righteous  laws  to  the  criminal  ;  to  im- 
press as  they  can  the  awf illness  of  sin  on  their  own  and 
on  other's  consciences,  and  to  recall  the  fallen  back  to 
virtue,  shamed  by  his  sin,  and  resolute  and  strong  in  the 
working  of  a  regenerated  will,  thus  vindicating  and  imi- 
tating "  the  goodness  and  severity  of  God."  The 
treatment  of  convicts  in  our  prisons  at  the  present 
time  is  generally  more  in  accordance  with  these  con- 
siderations than  in  the  past,  when  severity  was  deemed 
more  needful  as  applied  to  criminals  who  were  subjects 
of  total  depravity,  than  a  proportionate  mercy,  which 
regarded  them  not  only  as  lost  ones,  but  as  capable  of 
a  possible  restoration  to  their  rightful  Owner  and  Al- 
mighty Friend.  The  reform  schools  in  our  different 
States  are  working  in  this  Christian  direction.  The 
subject  of 

Cajntal  Punishment 

has  elicited  much  attention  during  the  time  of  which 
we  are  speaking.  It  has  been  discussed  in  newspapers, 
pamphlets,  legislatures,  pulpits,  and  lyceum  halls.  Some 
of  our  States  have  abolished  the  gallows,  others  are 
agitating  this  subject  in  their  legislatures.  The  present 
governor  (Long)  of  Massachusetts,  in  his  annual  mes- 


76  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

sages  of  the  last  two  years,  has  recommended  the  abo- 
lition of  the  death  penalty.  A  large  number  of  ministers 
of  the  Universalist  Church  have  constantly  affirmed 
their  opposition  to  it.  Rev.  Charles  Spear  published  a 
sensible  work  on  the  subject,  and  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou, 
D.  D.,  thirty  years  since,  gave  the  whole  question  a  very 
thorough  investigation,  in  reply  to  Rev.  Dr.  Cheever  of 
New  York,  and  others.1  Michigan  was  the  first  State 
in  the  Union  to  abolish  the  death  penalty,  and  a  late 
Report  makes  the  statement  that,  with  a  population  of 
1,500,000,  no  man  lias  been  executed  in  the  State  dur- 
ing the  last  thirty-five  years,  and  that  a  less  number  of 
murders  have  been  perpetrated  during  the  last  ten 
years,  in  ratio  to  the  population,  than  during  the  same 
decade  in  any  other  State  where  public  or  even  private 
executions  have  prevailed.2  Capital  punishment  has 
also  been  abolished  in  Maine. 

The  Position  and   Work  of  Woman 

has  also  been  a  subject  of  deep  and  wide-spread  interest. 
Christianity  has  ever  given  to  woman  a  place  denied 
her  by  all  other  religions.  As  Christian  thought  has 
had  freer  course,  and  Christian  theology  and  practical 
work  new  and  brighter  development,  the  relations  of 
woman  to  the  welfare  and  progress  of  human  society 
have  been  more  clearly  understood  and  appreciated. 
Her  rights  in  law  are  now  more  plainly  and  justly  de- 
fined, and  the  importance  of  her  equal  education  with 
the  other  sex  admitted  and  emphasized.  She  is  promi- 
nent and  indispensable  as  a  teacher,  all  over  the  land  ; 

1  Universalist  Quarterly,  Vol.  VI.  No.  4,  October,  1849. 

2  "  Gospel  Banner,"  Augusta,  Me.,  June  10,  1882. 


REFORMATORY  PROGRESS.  77 

she  is  a  graduate  of  the  college  and  a  professor  there ; 
she  is  a  successful  practitioner  in  the  legal  and  medical 
professions  ;  she  is  an  ordained  minister  of  the  Gospel ; 
she  is  a  merchant,  a  book-keeper  and  accountant,  an 
editor,  an  artist,  a  mechanic,  a  farmer,  and  has  more 
than  average  success  in  all  these  departments  of  activ- 
ity. Her  right  to  the  ballot  is  slowly  but  surely  coming 
to  a  settlement,  which  it  will  take  time  and  thought  on 
her  part  (for  when  she  asks  for  the  ballot  it  will  be 
hers),  and  enlightened  legislation  to  effect.  Where  she 
has  exercised  this  right,  none  but  favorable  results  have 
been  witnessed.1  Our  State  legislatures  are  called  upon 
to  give  attention  to  the  subject,  and  a  committee  of  our 
national  Congress  have  just  decided  to  report  a  proposed 
amendment  to  the  Constitution,  declaring  that kk  the  right 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be  de- 
nied or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any  State 
on  account  of  sex,  and  giving  Congress  the  power,  by 
appropriate  legislation,  to  enforce  the  provisions  of  this 
article."  If  Congress  will  agree  to  propose  this  amend- 
ment, and  three  fourths  of  the  States  will  ratify  it, 
woman  suffrage  will  be  legalized. 

Other  Questions. 

The  philanthropic  and  successful  efforts  in  behalf  of 
the  blind,  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  feeble  minded,  of 
fallen  women,  and  orphan  children,  are  becoming  more 
and  more  apparent  every  year,  all  in  cheering  accord 
with  that  restorative  mercy  and  power  evinced  in  Him 
whose  mission  was  to  relieve  the  sorrows  and  remove 

1  The  Governor  of  Wyoming  affirms  that  woman  suffrage  is  an  un- 
qualified success  in  the  Territory. 


78  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

the  afflictive  evils  that  beset  mankind.  And  no  more 
unmistakable  evidence  of  the  decline  of  that  horrible 
doctrine  of  endless  suffering  for  the  wicked  can  be  real- 
ized,  than  the  instituting  and  maintaining  societies  for 
the  suppression  of  cruelty  to  animals.  Surety,  the  Father 
of  our  spirits  will  not  be  less  merciful  towards  any  of 
his  children,  than  these  children  are  justly  called  upon 
to  be  to  the  inferior  creatures  of  his  forming  hand ! 
These  are  some  of  the  signs  of  Christian  progress  during 
the  last  half-century.     Laus  Deo  ! 


THE   UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH  AND  ITS   WOMEN.     79 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    UNIVERSALIST    CHURCH    AND    ITS    WOMEN. 

"Help  those  women  which  labored  with  me  in  the  churches."  — 
Paul,  Phil.  iv.  3. 

A  I  ^IIE  Universalist  Church  is  much  indebted  to  its 
-*■  faithful  women.  Taking  into  consideration  its 
comparative  numbers,  no  other  church  in  America  has 
been  more  signally  favored  in  the  genial  and  healthful 
influence  of  its  writers  who  have  borne  the  honorable 
name  of  Woman.  They  have  been  instrumental  in 
spreading  the  doctrines  of  the  primitive  Gospel  and  the 
moral  bearings  of  their  religion  before  the  world  in 
most  attractive  and  impressive  forms,  and  have  disa- 
bused the  public  in  its  wrong  estimate  of  the  character 
and  ability  of  the  advocates  of  Universalism  and  the 
tendency  and  influence  of  its  principles. 

Among  those  worthy  to  be  remembered  in  this  goodly 
company,  who  have  passed  from  the  present  life  during 
the  last  half-century,  we  may  mention  the  gifted  sister 
poets,  Alice  and  Phoebe  Gary,  Mrs.  Sarah  Broughton, 
Mrs.  Julia  H.  Scott,  Mrs.  Sarah  C.  E.  Mayo,  Mrs.  Char- 
lotte A.  Jerauld,  Mrs.  Henrietta  A.  Bingham,  Mrs. 
Elmina  11.  B.  Waldo,  Mrs.  Luella  J.  B.  Case,  and  Mrs. 
E.  H.  Cobb. 

Among  the  living  we  may  note  the  names  of  Mrs. 
Catharine  M,  Sawyer,  whose  contributions  to  our  church 
journals  are  so  well  known ;  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore, 


80  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

who  in  her  past  connection  with  our  church  work  and 
literature  has  gained  such  a  high  reputation  with  her 
voice  and  pen,  as  well  as  in  her  deeds  of  benevolence 
and  mercy  during  the  war  of  the  rebellion  ;  Mrs.  Julia 
A.  Carney,  whose  hymns  and  instruction  books  have 
made  her  name  so  familiar  in  our  Sunday-schools  and 
homes ;  Mrs.  Caroline  A.  Soule,  whose  consecrated 
words  and  works  have  secured  her  a  name  which  the 
church  of  her  love  will  hold  in  righteous  estimation  ; 
Mrs.  Nancy  T.  Munroe,  Mrs.  Lathrop  (formerly  Mrs. 
Bacon),  Mrs.  E.  M.  Bruce,  Mrs.  J.  L.  Patterson,  Mrs. 
S.  M.  Perkins,  Mrs.  P.  A.  Hanaford,  Miss  Carnahan, 
Miss  Remick,  Miss  Minnie  S.  Davis,  —  but  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  know  where  to  draw  the  line  in  this  counting. 
Others  might  be  named,  would  space  permit,  who  have 
made  their  contributions  to  the  literature  of  the  church. 
The  older  and  well  known  retain  "  their  wonted  fires," 
and  the  new  and  younger  are  coining  to  succeed  and 
honor  them.  Some  of  our  women  are  speaking  our  best 
and  most  practical  words  in  our  churches,  prayer  and 
conference  and  missionary  meetings;  in  our  Sunday- 
schools,  conventions,  and  associations  ;  in  our  pulpits, 
as  evangelists  and  pastors  ;  in  our  educational  insti- 
tutions. If  the  Universalist  Church  has  not  at  this 
hour  as  brilliant  a  presentation  of  Christian  literature 
from  the  pen  of  its  women  as  it  had  thirty  years  since, 
there  never  was  more  of  the  practical  and  available 
talent  of  woman  in  it  than  at  the  present  time  ;  never 
so  much  organized  effort  on  their  part  as  now. 

This  effort  seems  to  have  taken  new  form  and  life 
since  the  Centenary  Year  of  the  church  came  round,  — 
1870.  Previous  to  that  date,  the  history  of  many  a  new 
movement,  many  a  new  parish  or  church,  had  been  the 


THE   UNIVERSALIST   CHURCH  AND  ITS   WOMEN.     81 

history  of  woman's  fidelity  in  the  inception,  progress, 
and  success  of  the  enterprise.  It  was  but  natural,  then, 
that  in  the  inspiration  awakened  by  the  approach  of 
this  centennial  year,  the  women  of  the  church  should 
be  aroused  to  new  and  still  greater  effort.  And  thus 
it  was  that  the  "  Woman's  Centenary  Aid  Association  " 
was  organized  at  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  in  September,  1869. 
The  organization  was  effected,  and  the  main  work  under 
it  was  to  aid  in  the  raising  of  the  proposed  "  Murray 
Fund,"  of  £200,000.  The  total  amount  raised  by  that 
Association  for  this  object,  in  all  the  States  and  else- 
where, deducting  comparatively  moderate  expenses,  and 
placed  in  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  Convention 
for  the  Murray  Fund,  was  $35,000.  Nearly  13,000 
women  thus  became  members  of  the  Association.  The 
fact  was  a  new  and  cheering  manifestation.  The 
"  Christian  Leader,"  a  Universalist  journal  of  New 
York  city,  thus  alluded  to  it:  — 

"  If  our  women  need  no  eulogy,  we  need  the  satisfaction 
of  making  a  warm,  explicit  confession  of  our  admiration  of 
their  attempt,  and  our  gratitude  for  what  they  have  done. 
They  can  well  afford  to  dispense  with  the  acknowledgment, 
but  we  cannot  afford  not  to  make  it.  It  becomes  us  here  to 
raise  no  question  as  to  woman's  fitness  for  certain  employ- 
ments and  political  prerogatives,  hitherto  the  prerogatives  of 
the  rougher  sex.  But  should  we  reach  what  some  call  '  ex- 
treme views  '  on  the  several  points,  and  should  our  zeal  bring 
us  onto  the  platform  as  a  champion  thereof,  the  sledge- 
hammer we  should  wield  is,  the  work  of  the  Universalist  women 
in  their  Centenary  Tear.  God  bless  and  make  us  grateful  for 
our  women  !  " 

Since  that  time  the  Association  has  taken  the  title 
of  the  "Womans'  Centenary   Association"  (dropping 


82  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

the  word  "  Aid  "  used  in  the  beginning  in  reference  to 
its  work  in  connection  with  the  United  States  Conven- 
tion). It  lias  much  other  work  of  its  own  now.  Its 
tract  publishing  and  circulation,  its  Scotland  Mission, 
its  endowment  of  women  professorships  in  one  of  our 
colleges,  its  special  gifts  for  the  aid  of  theological  stu- 
dents, the  helping  of  needy  and  worthy  parish  organi- 
zations, establishing  Sunday-schools  in  waste  places,  and 
assisting  to  sustain  them  and  other  beneficent  works, 
are  included  in  its  ministries.  Every  year's  report  of 
its  doings  has  spoken  to  the  public  of  the  utility  and 
effectiveness  of  its  work. 

In  May,  1875,  Mrs.  Caroline  A.  Soule,  the  first  Presi- 
dent of  the  Association,  sailed  from  New  York  city  for 
Scotland,  on  a  mission  of  observation,  as  a  company  of 
believers  there  had  for  some  time  received  aid  and  en- 
couragement from  the  Association.  She  passed  several 
months  in  Scotland,  preaching  in  Dunfermline,  Glas- 
gow, Larbert,  Dundee,  and  other  places,  and  organized 
the  "Scottish  Universalist  Convention."  She  also  as- 
sisted at  the  dedication  of  a  little  church  in  Stenhouse- 
muir,  the  only  Universalist  Church  edifice  in  Great 
Britain.  Three  years  afterwards  she  went,  by  approval 
of  the  Association,  as  a  preacher  and  missionary.  After 
preaching  awhile  in  Dundee  and  Glasgow,  in  1879  she 
organized,  in  the  last-named  place,  the  "  St.  Paul  Uni- 
versalist 011111x11,"  and  established  a  Sunday-school  and 
church  library.  Great  numbers  of  tracts  and  many 
books  (twenty  barrels  of  closely -packed  matter)  were 
circulated  as  helps  in  her  work.  The  rite  of  ordination 
was  conferred  upon  her  by  the  Seottish  Convention. 
During  her  work  in  Scotland  she  has  proved,  by  her 
fidelity,  self-sacrifice,  and  persistence  in  her  work  dur- 


THE   UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH  AND  ITS    WOMEN.     83 

ing  many  and  severe  discouragements,  her  qualifications 
for  a  Christian  missionary  worthy  to  be  recorded  among 
the  most  devoted  of  any  in  the  other  churches  who  have 
been  strengthened  and  honored  by  the  accomplishment 
of  devoted  women  in  their  missionary  fields.  Her  work 
is  a  noble  beginning  of  that  which  may  continue  to  be 
done  by  the  Universalist  Church,  if  it  shall  possess  a 
zeal  commensurate  with  the  magnitude  of  that  pre- 
eminent Gospel  to  be  "  preached  to  every  creature," 
which  it  is  called  of  God  to  maintain.  Christian  Uni- 
versalism  and  woman,  "  what  God  hath  joined  together, 
let  not  man  put  asunder."  1 

1  For  a  more  ample  view  of  the  position  and  work  of  the  women  of 
the  Universalist  Church,  we  refer  the  reader  to  the  volume  recently  given 
to  the  puhlic  by  Mrs.  E.  R.  Hanson,  entitled  "  Our  Women  Workers." 
Chicago,  1882. 


84  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

SKETCHES   OF   MINISTERS. 

"  Insignificant  as  the  denomination  of  Universalists  may  now  appear  in 
the  eyes  of  the  world,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  the  time  is  coming  when 
it  will  occupy  in  this  country,  and  throughout  all  Christendom,  a  much 
more  commanding  position,  and  men  will  ask  for  the  beginning  of  what 
they  shall  then  see,  and  love  to  read  the  story  of  our  present  struggles 
and  victories."  —  Rev.  T.  J.  Sawyer,  D.  D. 

TT  is  within  the  first  century  of  our  national  republic, 
■■■  just  passed,  that  this  great  faith  in  the  universality 
of  God's  love  and  of  the  work  of  Christian  salvation 
with  man,  has  gained  a  prominence  in  the  churches 
which  it  had  not  known  since  the  earlier  times  of  Chris- 
tianity. It  is  of  the  last  half  century,  in  connection 
with  the  history  of  this  faith,  however,  that  I  would 
more  particularly  speak,  as  it  is  within  this  period  that 
the  work  of  its  promulgation  in  our  own  country  has 
been  especially  realized,  its  public  advocates  multiplied, 
and  their  ministries  extended  in  many  of  the  States  of 
our  Union.  Its  publications  and  other  educational  forces 
have  increased,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  it  has  identified 
itself  with  some  of  the  most  significant  reforms  of  the 
age.  Many  of  its  friends  and  representatives  have  been 
among  the  worthy  and  excellent  of  the  times  in  which 
they  have  lived,  and  not  a  few  of  its  public  advocates 
deserve  to  be  honorably  and  thankfully  remembered  in 
the  present  and  the  future  for  the  contributions  they 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  85 

have  made  to  the  progress  of  the  church  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  Christian  truth  and  the  realization  and  enjoj*- 
ment  of  the  Christian  life.  It  is  one  of  the  enjoyments 
connected  with  the  preparation  of  these  pages,  that  the 
writer  may  call  them  up  in  memory  and  speak  of  them 
as  they  appear  to  him,  and  note  some  of  th  ?ir  charac- 
teristics, and  pay  them  that  tribute  of  respect  and 
honor  which  the}r  so  justly  merit. 

Though  others  may  appear  as  their  successors  in  the 
same  high  calling,  they  can  scarcely  be  more  faithful  or 
effective  in  their  labors  than  have  these  earnest  defend- 
ers of  the  Abrahamic  faith  who  have  been  foremost  in 
its  promulgation  during  the  past  generation.  If  many 
of  them  now  rest  from  their  labors,  their  works  surely 
follow  them,  and  their  names  deserve  tender  and  thank- 
ful remembrance  by  their  survivors  in  the  church  for 
whose  prosperity  and  honor  they  so  hopefully,  bravely, 
and  faithfully  taught  and  wrought. 

It  should  be  understood  that,  in  the  succeeding  sketches 
of  ministers,  it  is  not  the  intent  of  the  writer  to  present 
anything  like  a  full  record  of  all  who  have  faithfully 
served  in  this  capacity  in  our  country  during  the  time 
of  our  church  history  comprehended  in  these  pages.  A 
complete  biographical  encyclopaedia  cannot  be  com- 
passed in  so  limited  a  space.  It  is  from  his  own  partic- 
ular stand-point  of  observation  and  recollection  that  the 
writer  presents  his  testimony.  Furthermore,  it  is  mainly 
to  those  now  departed  that  these  references  are  made. 

The  Ballous  have  been  conspicuous  in  this  conflict 
of  religious  opinions  during  the  present  century.  Fore- 
most among  the  family  of  preachers,  most  of  whom  have 
departed,  stands  acknowledged  Hosea  the  elder,  one  of 


86  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

the  strongest  theologians  of  the  past  or  present  in  New 
England.  He  lived  through  half  the  present  century, 
being  nearly  thirty  years  old  when  he  entered  it,  and 
was  vigorous  to  the  last  at  the  age  of  eighty-one.  The 
statement  of  his  life-history  is  not  a  new  one  now.  The 
four  ample  volumes  containing  it,  by  Dr.  Whittemore, 
have  been  extensively  read,  and  will  be  for  years  to 
come.  But  having  known  and  revered  him,  it  is  an 
unspeakable  pleasure  to  the  writer  to  state  his  impres- 
sions of  the  man  and  the  preacher. 

Hosea  Ballou  (a  native  of  Richmond,  N.  H.),  came 
from  the  home  of  a  worthy  Baptist  clergyman,  whose 
means  of  living  and  supporting  a  large  family  were 
small.  He  had  but  meagre  opportunities  for  education, 
but  employed  what  he  had  to  the  best  advantage,  and 
became  a  school-teacher  in  early  manhood.  He  joined 
the  Baptist  Church  when  quite  young,  but  afterwards 
grew  out  of  its  theology,  and  became  convinced  of  the 
truth  of  Universalism.  Discouraged  in  his  first  at- 
tempts as  a  public  speaker,  he  grew  more  confident,  and 
soon  attracted  much  attention,  wherever  he  appeared,  as 
an  advocate  of  his  faith.  His  pastorates  were  in  Bar- 
nard, Vt.,  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  Salem  and  Boston,  Mass. 
He  died  in  the  last-named  city,  June  7,  18")2,  after  a 
pastorate  of  more  than  thirty  years.  His  two  sons, 
Hosea  F.,  of  Vermont,  and  Massena  B.,  of  Stoughton, 
Mass.,  have  served  in  the  ministry  many  years. 

Mr.  Ballou  was  gifted  with  great  logical  clearness, 
aptness,  and  force.  His  preaching  was  plain,  scriptural, 
and  often  fervent,  and  no  one  could  bring  home  to  the 
hearer  the  great  themes  of  the  Divine  Fatherhood  and 
Human  Brotherhood  more  effectively  than  he.     Wake- 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  87 

fill  indeed  must  be  the  theological  opponent  who  could 
evade  the  force  of  his  logic.  He  employed  the  Socratic 
method,  by  drawing  the  objector  out,  so  that  his  own 
statements  would  confound  or  cgnfute  him.  Many 
valiant  ones  of  the  opposite  faith  were  there  who  could 
readily  assail  and  denounce  his  doctrines,  where  his 
replies  could  not  reach  them,  but  who  would  be  very 
sure  to  keep  at  a  respectful  distance  from  that  "  sword 
of  the  Spirit "  which  he  wielded  with  such  consummate 
skill. 

Of  the  published  works  of  Mr.  Ballon,  none  have 
evinced  more  mental  clearness  and  vigor  than  his  vol- 
ume on  "  Atonement,"  issued  in  1805.1  Its  plainness 
and  adaptedness  to  the  common  reader,  its  sharp  logic, 
and  above  all  its  apt  and  convincing  appeals  to  the 
Scriptures,  render  it  a  timely  helper  everywhere  and 
always,  in  the  discussion  of  the  theologies  which  have 
assumed  the  Christian  name,  and  which  are  now  being 
so  closely  scrutinized.  Every  reader  and  student  of 
theology  understands  something  of  the  old  theory  of 
Atonement  so  long  dominant  in  the  Christian  Church, 
so  exceedingly  perplexing  to  honest  and  independent 
inquirers,  so  hard  to  be  vindicated  by  its  ablest  advo- 
cates, and  so  surely  sowing  the  seeds  of  scepticism  and 
infidelity  in  many  minds.  Volume  after  volume  has 
appeared  in  defence  and  attempted  illustration  of  it. 
Sin  an  infinite  evil,  being  a  violation  of  infinite  law,  and 
therefore  the  law  requiring  an  infinite  sacrifice,  short 

1  A  new  edition  of  this  valuable  work,  with  an  Introduction  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Miner,  Mr.  Ballou's  successor  in  the  Boston  pastorate,  has  just  been 
issued  by  the  Universalist  Publishing  House  in  this  city.  It  ought  to 
have  a  new  and  a  larger  circulation  than  ever.  The  writer  owes  his 
conversion  to  Universalism,  by  divine  grace,  to  the  reading  of  this  book. 


88  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

of  which  no  atonement  could  be  made  ;  the  transgres- 
sion of  Adam  bringing  the  whole  human  race  into  the 
same  situation  of  sin  and  misery,  and  subjecting  them 
all  to  the  infinite  penalty  of  an  infinite  law,  which  they 
had  violated  in  their  parent  before  they  individually  ex- 
isted.  In  view  of  this  penalty,  which  was  endless  suf- 
fering, God  himself,  to  placate  his  own  wrath  against 
the  delinquents,  assumed  a  body  of  flesh  and  blood,  and 
suffered  the  penalty  of  the  law  by  death, —  not  that  God 
himself  actually  died,  but  the  human  bod}'  in  which  he 
came,  —  this  is  deemed  the  infinite  sacrifice  by  which  it 
is  possible  for  a  part  of  mankind  to  be  saved.  "Divines 
of  the  greatest  ability,"  writes  Mr.  Ballon,  "  and  of  the 
first  rank  among  the  literati,  have  drained  the  last 
faculty  of  invention  in  plodding  through  the  dark 
region  of  metaphysics  to  bring  up  a  Samuel  to  explain 
the  solecism  of  satisfying  an  infinite  dissatisfaction.'" 

Now  let  us  note  how  the  author  of  "Atonement" 
quietly  sets  forth  this  absurdity.  It  is  all  comprehended 
in  a  single  page  of  the  volume  :  — 

"  We  will  state  it  as  it  is  often  stated  by  those  who  believe 
it,  which  is  by  the  likeness  of  debt  and  credit.  The  sinner 
owed  a  debt  to  Divine  Justice,  which  he  was  unable  to  dis- 
charge ;  the  Divine  Being  cannot,  consistently  with  his  honor, 
dispense  with  the  pay,  but  says,  '  I  must  have  what  is  my 
just  due  ;  '  but  as  the  debtor  has  not  ability  to  pay  the  smallest 
fraction,  Divine  Wisdom  lays  a  deep,  concerted,  mysterious 
plan  fur  the  debt  to  be  discharged.  And  how  was  it?  Why, 
for  God  to  pay  it  himself! 

"Our  neighbor  owes  us  a  hundred  pounds;  time  of  pay- 
ment comes,  and  we  make  a  demand  for  our  dues.  Says  our 
neighbor,  '  My  misfortunes  have  been  such  that  I  am  not  the 
possessor  of  the  smallest  fraction  of  property  in  the  world ; 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  89 

and  as  much  as  I  owe  you  I  am  worse  than  nothing.'  I  de- 
clare to  him  positively  that  I  will  not  lose  so  much  as  a  frac- 
tion of  the  interest,  and  leave  him.  A  friend  calls,  and  asks 
me  how  I  succeeded  in  obtaining  my  dues  of  my  neighbor. 
I  reply,  '  My  neighbor  is  not,  nor  will  he  ever  be,  able  to  pa}' 
me  any  part  of  my  demand.'  M}'  friend  says  he  is  sorry 
that  1  should  lose  my  debt.  I  answer,  k  I  shall  not  lose  it. 
I  have  very  fortunately,  in  1113-  meditations  on  the  subject, 
thought  of  a  method  by  which  I  can  avail  myself  of  the  whole, 
to  1113'  full  satisfaction  ;  and  I  think  it  is  a  method  which  no 
person  in  the  world  but  nvyself  could  ever  have  discovered.' 
My  friend  is  curious  and  impatient  to  know  the  secret,  never 
before  found  out.  The  reader  ma}T  guess  his  confusion  on 
my  telling  him,  'that  as  I  have  that  sum  already  by  me,  I 
am  now  going  to  pay  up  the  obligation  before  the  interest  is 
any  larger  ! '  This  has  been  called  the  Gospel  plan,  which 
contains  the  depths  of  infinite  wisdom." 

What  could  be  plainer,  and  how  could  the  justness 
of  this  representation  be  questioned?  Questioned  it 
was,  of  course,  not  by  any  attempt  at  elaborate  exami- 
nation and  refutation,  but  by  a  sermon  now  and  then 
given  out  from  some  Orthodox  pulpit,  by  some  honest 
minister,  entrenched  behind  the  prejudices  of  his  hear- 
ers, and  altogether  disinclined  to  meet  the  whole  ques- 
tion in  the  broadest  daylight  of  investigation.  Out  of 
this  plain  exposition,  and  others  like  it,  since  made, 
have  come  the  examinations,  and  statements,  and  re- 
statements, and  amendments,  and  improvements  of  the 
orthodox  doctrine  of  Atonement,  which  are  keeping 
astir  at  this  hour  the  pulpits  and  schools  of  theology  all 
over  the  land  and  across  the  seas. 

Many  are  the  anecdotes  of  Mr.  Ballou  given  in  the 
biographies   already   before   the  public.     Were    we    to 


90  FIFTY  NOTABLE  YEARS. 

attempt  a  selection,  we  should  be  at  a  loss  where  to 
begin.  We  have  one  in  mind,  given  us  by  Rev.  Moses 
Ballon,  which  we  have  never  seen  in  our  religious  jour- 
nals. A  Mr.  Buckman,  a  relative  of  Mr.  Ballou,  had 
taken  it  upon  him  as  a  matter  of  conscience,  with  very 
little  mental  preparation,  to  be  a  preacher.  He  had  a 
good  deal  of  self-assnrance,  and,  withal,  strong  love  of 
approbation.  Being  in  company  with  Mr.  Ballou,  at 
one  time,  he  was  anxious  to  get  an  approving  word 
from  him,  and  said,  "  Brother  Ballou,  I  am  awfulty  tried 
with  myself."  "Ah!"  said  Mr.  Ballou,  "Why  so? 
What  is  the  trouble?"  "Why,"  said  Mr.  Buckman, 
"  it  is  this  :  to  think  that  I  should  ever  try  to  preach, 
and  know  so  little.  Now,  what  do  you  think  about  it  ?  " 
"  WThy,"  said  Mr.  Ballou,  hesitating  a  little,  "  if  yon 
really  want  to  know  my  mind,  I  think  —  that —  if  you 
knew  a  little  more,  you  would  never  try  again  I " 

How  welcome  was  he  at  the  great  meetings  of  the 
church,  —  conferences,  associations,  conventions.  He 
was  usually  called  upon  to  give  the  discourse  at  the  close 
of  the  meeting.  And  it  was  often  a  feast  to  hear  him, 
as  he  would  dwell  upon  the  excellency  of  the  divine 
attributes,  the  "■  exceeding  great  and  precious  prom- 
ises," and  the  plain  and  reasonable  precepts  of  the  gos- 
pel. A  prophetic  word  of  good  cheer  would  be  spoken 
by  him  at  such  times.  He  would  see,  and  make  others 
see,  the  clouds  receding,  and  the  clear  day  opening  in 
the  blue  and  golden  sky  beyond.  However  acceptably 
others  had  preached  before  him,  the  expectation  was 
that  somehow  his  discoursing  would  give  finish  and 
sanction  to  them  all.  And  it  was  so.  At  Barre,  Vt., 
where  the  General  Convention  met  in  1831,  excellent 
discourses  were  delivered  by  able  ministers  present,  and 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  91 

so  rich  and  varied  were  the  topics  dwelt  upon,  that  the 
query  was  somewhat  humorously  proposed,  "  What 
will  Father  Ballou  have  to  say  after  all  this?  "  Judge 
of  our  interest  and  delight  when  the  modest  man  arose, 
and  in  the  most  quiet  way  proposed  for  his  text  the 
words  of  Elihu,  in  Job,  xxxvi.  2:  "  Suffer  me  a  little, 
and  I  will  show  thee  that  I  have  yet  to  speak  on  God's 
behalf."  And  such  a  vindication  of  the  character  of 
the  gracious  Father  of  all  in  face  of  the  aspersions  cast 
upon  it  by  his  weak  and  erring  children  !  It  was  simply 
electrifying. 

The  late  Rev.  Theodore  Clapp,  D.  D.,  of  New  Or- 
leans, and  a  minister  in  the  Unitarian  Church,  once 
related  that,  being  present  in  a  gathering  of  Unitarian 
clergymen  in  Boston,  the  conversation  turned  on  the 
changes  which  had  been  effected  in  the  theology  of  New 
England,  and  the  question  who,  of  all  her  great  divines, 
had  wrought  the  most  and  greatest  changes.  Of  course 
Channing  had  the  most  advocates  ;  but  there  were  some 
who  named  Edwards,  Emmons,  Hopkins,  and  other 
doctors  of  the  Orthodox  Schools.  At  last  Dr.  Clapp, 
who  had  remained  silent,  was  appealed  to.  '*  Gentle- 
men," said  he,  "  you  have  not  yet  named  the  man  !  " 
"  What !  "  replied  all  in  astonishment,  ;k  not  named 
him !  "  "  No,  gentlemen,  you  have  not  yet  named 
him."  "  Why,  who  can  it  be  ?  We  have  named  every 
preacher  of  eminence  in  New  England."  "And  yet, 
gentlemen,  you  have  not  named  the  man."  "  Well,  who 
do  you  say  he  is?"  With  great  impressiveness,  Mr. 
Clapp  uttered  the  name.  "  Hosea  Ballou  has  effected 
more  and  greater  changes  in  the  theological  opinions  of 
the  people  of  New  England,   than  any   man   dead  or 


92  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

living."     There  was  silence  for  a  time,  and  the  discus- 
sion was  not  renewed.1 

Mr.  Ballou  was  a  vigorous  writer.  His  "  Treatise 
on  the  Atonement,"  "Notes  on  the  Parables,"  and  vol- 
umes of  sermons,  are  among  his  best  offerings  to  the 
public.  The  first-named  book  ought  to  be  read  through- 
out Christendom.  He  was  through  his  professional  life 
a  welcome  contributor  to  the  periodicals  of  the  church. 
He  has  stood  and  will  continue  to  stand  high.  His 
imposing  statue  at  Mount  Auburn  will  look  out  upon 
generations  mentally  and  spiritually  blest  through  his 
truthful  ministries. 

The  eldest  son  of  Mr.  Ballou,  Rev.  Hosea  Faxon 
Ballou,  was  born  in  Dana,  Mass.,  April  4,  1799,  and 
died  in  Wilmington,  Vt.,  May  20,  1881.  At  the  age  of 
thirty  he  became  desirous  of  entering  the  ministry,  but 
hesitated  from  anxiety  as  to  the  support  of  his  growing 
family.  He  began  the  study  of  theology,  however,  and 
in  1832,  after  a  few  months  with  Rev.  Benjamin  Whitte- 
more,  preached  with  success  three  times  in  the  vicinity 
of  Boston,  and  was  called  to  Whitingham,  Vt.  He  was 
ordained  at  Boston,  June  30, 1833.  After  a  pastorate  of 
nearly  twenty-five  years  at  Whitingham  he  went  to  Wil- 
mington, where  he  was  pastor  until,  in  1872,  the  infirmi- 
ties of  age  led  him  to  abandon  the  pulpit,  after  a  ministry 
of  forty  years  without  the  loss  of  a  single  Sunday.  In 
person  Mr.  Ballou  was  tall,  erect,  and  strong,  bearing  a 
marked  resemblance  to  his  distinguished  father  in  face 
and  form  as  well  as  in  mental  characteristics.  His  sermons 
evinced  a  high  order  of  intellect  and  cultivation.  Dur- 
ing the  last  seventeen  years  of  his  residence  in  Whiting- 

1  Account  by  Rev.  A.  B.  Grosh. 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  93 

ham,  he  held  the  office  of  town  clerk,  and  in  Wilmington 
was  twice  elected  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  and 
once  to  the  State  Legislature.  He  was  President  of 
the  Wilmington  Savings  Bank  for  seven  years  before 
his  death,  and  occupied  many  other  positions  of  honor 
and  trust.  He  reared  a  large  family  of  children,  and 
it  has  been  said  of  him,  in  truth  we  may  believe,  that 
during  the  past  fifty  years  no  man  in  Southern  Vermont 
exerted  so  wide  an  influence  over  religious  opinions. 

Another  son  of  Mr.  Ballou,  Massena  B.  Ballou, 
was  pastor  of  the  Universalist  Church  in  Stoughton, 
Mass.,  for  twenty-five  years,  and  now  resides  in  that 
town,  at  an  advanced  age. 

An  elder  brother  of  Hosea  was  Rev.  David  Ballou, 
of  Munroe,  Mass.,  a  man  of  remarkable  acuteness  as 
a  reasoner,  and  quite  as  sound  a  theologian  as  the  more 
distinguished  one  just  noticed,  but  whose  success  as  a 
preacher  was  much  less,  because  of  the  want  of  that 
ease  and  fluency  in  the  delivery  of  his  discourses  which 
his  brother  possessed.  But  those  who  knew  him  well 
have  borne  witness  to  the  excellence  of  his  character 
and  his  great  ability  as  an  expounder  of  the  Word  of 
the  Gospel. 

His  son,  Rev.  Moses  Ballou,  held  a  prominent 
place  in  our  church  as  one  of  its  talented  ministers,  and 
as  a  writer  of  more  than  ordinary  ability.  He  was  born 
in  Munroe,  Mass.,  March  24,  1811.  Educated  at  the 
academy  at  Brattleboro,  Vt.,  he  began  preaching  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two.  One  of  his  earliest  charges  was  at 
Bath,  N.  H.  He  was  subsequently  settled  at  Ports- 
mouth, where  he  had  pastorates  twice.     He  had  charge 


94  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

of  the  cliurches  at  Bridgeport,  Hartford,  and  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  and  in  later  years  removed  to  New  York 
city,  where  he  was  pastor  of  the  Bleecker  Street 
Church.  He  then  came  to  Philadelphia,  and  took 
charge  of  the  Church  of  the  Restoration.  Failing  in 
health,  he  gave  up  his  work  in  that  city,  and  removed 
to  Atco,  N.  J.  His  friends  there  erected  for  him  a 
small  church  edifice,  where  he  held  service  when  able 
so  to  do.     He  died  in  Philadelphia,  May  19,  1879. 

He  was  the  author  of  two  books,  —  one  the  "Me- 
morial of  Rev.  Merritt  Sanford ;  "  the  other,  "  The 
Divine  Character  Vindicated,"  a  review  of  Rev.  Ed- 
ward Beecher's  work,  entitled  "  The  Conflict  of  Ages." 
This  last-named  volume  indicates  the  masterly  mental 
strength  of  the  man.  Dr.  Beecher  himself,  we  are  in- 
formed, acknowledged  it  to  have  been  the  ablest  of  any 
reply  made  to  his  work.  It  has  never  yet  been  read  by 
Universalists  as  it  deserves  to  be.  Mr.  Ballou  was  not 
only  a  strong  and  logical  writer,  but  an  earnest  and  elo- 
quent preacher.     Dr.  T.  B.  Thayer  writes  of  him :  — 

"In  his  best  days,  when  in  the  vigor  of  his  manhood, 
physically  and  mentally,  few  men  could  hold  a  thoughtful  and 
intellectual  audience  to  closer  attention  than  he  ;  and  even 
those  who  differed  from  him  theologically  acknowledged  the 
ability  with  which  he  maintained  his  positions,  and  were  little 
disposed  to  enter  the  lists  of  controversial  argument  against 
them.  And  at  times  when  the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel 
seemed,  in  the  midst  of  his  speaking,  to  dawn  upon  him  in 
new  and  larger  revelation,  he  would  break  into  speech  that 
thrilled  his  hearers,  and  lifted  them  for  a  space  into  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  angels. 

"  He  knew  for  a  good  while  that  the  end  was  approaching, 
and  he  was  ready.     Death  was  to  him  only  the  door  that 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  95 

opened  into  the  new  immortal  life,  which  was  almost  as  pres- 
ently real  to  him  as  the  life  he  was  living  here.  And  when,  at 
the  last,  his  life-long  friend,  Rev.  James  Shrigley,  said  good- 
bye to  him,  he  exclaimed,  '  Why  sa}-  good-bye,  when  we 
shall  meet  again  to-morrow  ? ' " 

Of  all  the  worthies  in  this  company  of  church  leaders 
of  which  we  are  speaking,  not  one  of  them  is  entitled  to 
a  higher  place  than  Hosea  Ballotj,  D.  D.,  or  "  2d," 
as  he  was  called  before  the  doctorate  was  conferred 
upon  him.  A  rare  man  was  he,  a  clear-headed  and 
closely  logical  thinker,  an  untiring  student,  one  of  the 
soundest  of  preachers,  and  humblest  and  noblest  of  men. 
"We  have  no  fear  of  using  language  too  strong  in  our 
statement  of  his  character,  its  pre-eminence  and  worth. 
An  editor  of  a  volume  of  his  discourses  has  given  it,  on 
the  title-page,  from  Laman  Blan chard  :  — 

"  His  thoughts  were  as  a  pyramid  up-piled, 
On  whose  far  top  an  angel  sat  and  smiled, 
Yet  in  his  heart  was  he  a  simple  child." 

He  was  of  Guilford,  Vt.,  born  there  in  1796.  His 
parents  were  Baptists,  but  the  thoughtful  and  studious 
boy,  before  the  age  of  nineteen,  had  embraced  Univer- 
salism.  He  began  early  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek, 
and  gave  much  attention  in  later  days  to  ecclesiastical 
history.  He  was  pastor  in  Stafford,  Conn.,  and  in  Rox- 
bury  and  Medford,  Mass.  He  was  for  some  years  one 
of  the  editors  of  the  "  Universalist  Magazine,"  and 
afterwards  of  the  "  Quarterly,"  a  publication  which 
under  his  supervision  was  a  most  creditable  addition  to 
the  literature  of  the  Christian  Church.  His  most  val- 
uable contribution  to  this  literature  is  his  "  Ancient 
History  of  Universalism,"  the  result  of  long  and  patient 


96  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

research  in  a  new  field  of  inquiry,  and  which  proved  to 
be  a  work  of  acknowledged  merit.  It  settled  at  once 
and  for  all  time  the  loose  statement  that  Universalism 
was  a  new  doctrine,  not  known  to  any  extent  in  olden 
times.  Some  of  the  brightest  lights  in  the  Christian 
Church  are  recognized  as  its  early  advocates.  Harvard 
University,  of  which  he  was  for  some  years  a  trustee, 
conferred  upon  him  its  honorary  degree  of  D.  D.  :  and 
Tufts  College,  for  which  he  had  anxiously  pleaded  and 
diligently  labored,  elected  him  her  first  president.  "  His 
scholarship,"  writes  another,  "  was  not  only  general  and 
varied,  but  exact  in  details,  and  frequently  astonishing 
by  its  minute  acquaintance  with  things  and  events  out 
of  the  ordinary  channels  of  information  ;  and  his  knowl- 
edge was  so  unostentatiously  held,  and  kindly  and  mod- 
estly imparted,  that  it  required  special  inquiry  to  elicit 
it,  and  seemed  but  natural  to  him.  His  gentle  manners 
and  readiness  to  impart  information,  and  his  mild  and 
loving  spirit,  won  for  him  the  esteem  of  all  who  became 
acquainted  with  him,  so  that  their  admiration  of  the 
scholar  and  teacher  were  often  lost  in  their  affection 
for  the  friend." 

Two  brothers  of  Dr.  Ballou,  Levi  and  William  S., 
were  for  years  preachers  and  pastors  in  New  England. 
William  resided  in  the  West  for  a  time,  where  he  died 
in  1865.  Levi  was  pastor  of  the  Universalist  Church 
in  North  Orange,  Mass.,  for  nineteen  years.  Clear- 
minded,  gentle,  and  yet  forcible  men  were  they,  making- 
good  proof  of  their  ministry. 

Rev.  Edward  Turner  was  for  years  one  of  the 
ablest  ministers  in   the   Universalist  Church.     He  was 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  97 

born  in  Medfield,  Mass.,  July  28,  1776,  and  was  in  early 
life  sent  to  the  school  of  the  celebrated  Hannah  Adams 
and  her  sister.  In  1786  his  family  removed  to  Stur- 
bridge,  Mass.,  and  in  his  seventeenth  year  he  was  at' 
Leicester  Academy.  He  was  educated  under  "  ortho- 
dox "  influence,  and  used  to  say  that  he  "  held  the  min- 
ister in  such  fearful  reverence  that  he  would  jump  over 
the  wall  to  hide  himself  if  he  saw  that  he  must  meet 
him  on  the  road."  The  towns  in  the  section  of  Wor- 
cester County  in  which  he  lived  were  among  those 
where  Universalism  was  first  preached.  Oxford,  espe- 
cially, was  one  of  its  strongholds,  the  first  Convention 
having  met  there  when  he  was  ten  years  old.  In  such 
a  neighborhood  he  could  not  have  lived  long  without 
heaving  something  of  the  "strange  doctrine,"  but  all 
that  is  known  is,  that  he  is  said  to  have  been  a  Uni- 
versalist  as  early  as  his  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  year. 
He  began  to  preach  in  1798,  when,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two,  he  preached  his  first  sermon  at  Bennington,  Vt. 
He  first  appears  in  the  public  records  of  the  Universal- 
ists  in  1800,  when  it  is  stated  that  a  Letter  of  License 
was  given  him  by  the  General  Convention.  From  this 
time  until  1824  his  name  appears  in  the  records  nearly 
every  year.  He  is  mentioned  in  the  records  of  the 
Convention  for  1803  as  of  Sturbridge  and  also  of  Charl- 
ton, from  which  it  is  inferred  that  both  these  towns 
had  societies  of  which  he  was  pastor.  In  1809  he  re- 
moved to  Salem,  Mass.  Here  he  remained  till  June, 
1814,  when  he  accepted  a  call  to  Charlestown,  Mass. 
In  March,  1824,  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  Ports- 
mouth, N.  H.,  where  he  continued  till  the  spring  of 
1828.  He  was  afterwards  minister  in  Charlton,  his  old 
home,  and  at  Fishkill  Landing,  N.  Y.     In  1841  he  re- 

7 


98  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

moved  to  Jamaica  Plain,  to  a  home  left  by  a  son-in-law, 
where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days.  He  was 
twice  married.  He  occasionally  preached  up  to  the 
last.  He  was  present  as  one  of  the  bearers  at  the  fune- 
ral of  his  old  friend  and  co-worker,  Mr.  Ballou,  June  9, 
1852,  and  departed  this  life  Jan.  24,  1853. 

With  the  opinions  of  the  elder  Ballou  in  regard  to 
future  (or  no-future)  punishment  he  had  no  sympathy  ; 
and  an  estrangement  somehow  grew  up,  which  led  him 
to  connect  himself,  later  in  life,  with  the  Unitarians, 
instead  of  remaining  with  those  in  the  Universalist 
ministry,  such  as  H.  Ballou,  2d.,  the  Streeters  and 
Skinners,  Rev.  L.  Willis,  Thomas  F.  King,  and  others, 
whose  opinions  coincided  with  his  own.  A  severe  ill- 
ness in  1811  wrought  a  marked  change  in  him.  Before 
this  he  was  quite  robust  and  erect,  afterwards  he  ap- 
peared more  feeble.  Previous  to  this  sickness,  like 
Mr.  Ballou,  he  had  been  exclusively  an  extemporaneous 
preacher,  and  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  "  rousing  " 
sort,  —  live,  vehement,  electric  ;  but  from  this  period 
his  whole  manner  changed,  and  his  ordinary  preaching 
became  subdued,  languid,  what  is  called  "  moderate," 
at  times,  perhaps,  even  heavy.  Dr.  E.  G.  Brooks,  in 
an  excellent  biographical  notice  of  him,  says :  — 

"  He  had  immense  latent  power.  At  times,  when  kindled 
\>y  some  great  occasion,  or  stirred  by  opposition  or  some 
peculiar  circumstance,  this  came  out.  Then  he  preached 
with  all  his  old  fire,  and  sometimes  rose  into  impassioned 
and  commanding  eloquence.  '  All  the  fountains  of  the  great 
deep '  within  him  '  were  broken  up,'  and  thought  and  feeling 
came  in  a  flood.  Rev.  Russell  Streeter  writes  me,  '  On  Con- 
vention occasions  he  was,  on  the  whole,  second  to  no  one.'' 
My  parents  tell  me  that  he  was  '  sometimes  very  animated.' 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  99 

They  speak  particularly  of  one  sermon  in  Portsmouth,  called 
forth  by  some  bitter  outbreak  of  opposition,  when  be  preached 
with  surpassing  effect.  Others  report  similar  instances. 
Doctrinal  sermons  in  abundance  he  preached,  but  even  those 
most  argumentative  and  most  sharply  controversial  were 
flavored  with  a  religious  meaning  and  reasoned  to  practical 
ends.  He  never  preached  a  sermon  that  was  merely  doctrinal, 
but  always  made  dogmatic  discussion  subordinate  to  moral 
impression.  Though  in  a  mistaken  estimate  of  duty,  as  we 
believe,  he  separated  from  us,  his  name  can  never  be  taken 
out  of  our  records  as  one  of  the  worthiest  of  our  early  he- 
roes, nor  his  work  cease  to  be  an  occasion  of  gratitude  and 
honorable  pride  to  us,  nor  his  reverent  and  saintly  character 
fail  to  be  one  of  the  most  precious  portions  of  our  denomi- 
national inheritance."  1 

The  Streeter  brothers  are  to  be  numbered  in  this 
"company  of  the  preachers."  Sebastian  was  for  more 
than  thirty  years  pastor  of  the  First  Universalist  Church, 
on  Hanover  Street,  Boston.  He  was  a  minister  of 
marked  character,  light-framed,  nervous,  dark-eyed,  of 
quick  movement,  clear  and  strong-minded,  voluble  in 
speech,  affable,  at  home  everywhere,  especially  in  the 
pulpit. 

Under  many  disadvantages,  he  laid  for  himself  the 
foundation  of  a  professional  education.  He  intended 
to  qualify  himself  for  the  law,  but  a  superior  wisdom 
and  will  called  him  to  the  Christian  pulpit.  At  the 
age  of  eighteen,  while  a  school-teacher  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, he  was  a  talented  advocate  of  Christian  Univer- 
salism.  At  twenty-two  he  preached  his  first  discourse. 
He  travelled  extensively  as  a  missionary  in  Maine,  en- 
countering the  reproach  which  awaited  the  advocacy  of 

1  "-Universalist  Quarterly"  for  April  and  July,  1871. 


100  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

his  faith  in  those  days  in  many  parts  of  New  England, 
and  having  the  honor  of  being  stoned  once  while 
preaching  in  a  Christian  house  of  worship,  and  by  a 
zealous  member  of  a  church.  With  him,  however, 
opposition  was  an  incentive  to  new  earnestness  in  his 
work.  He  was  singularly  gifted  as  a  preacher.  He 
despised  all  garishness  and  affectation,  and  was  usually 
full  of  his  theme.  There  was  in  him  a  latent  fire  of 
eloquence,  which  when  kindled  stirred  his  audience  to 
the  depths  of  their  souls.  The  writer  calls  to  mind 
occasions  of  his  preaching :  one,  while  the  hearer  was 
standing  in  the  doorway  of  a  church  at  a  meeting  of 
the  General  Convention  in  Vermont.  The  pulpit  was 
between  the  doors  that  opened  upon  the  faces  of  the 
congregation.  The  preacher  was  in  the  heat  of  his 
discoursing  on  the  words  of  Jesus,  "  And  I,  if  I  be 
lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me." 
There  were  no  indifferent  listeners,  and  but  few  dry 
eyes  to  be  seen.  The  remembrance  has  often  been  an 
inspiration.  The  other  was  at  the  session  of  the  Rock- 
ingham Association,  in  Nottingham,  N.  H.,  in  1833. 
Mr.  Streeter  delivered  the  occasional  discourse,  an  able 
and  a  timely  one.  He  was  speaking  of  reforms  and 
reformers,  and  was  all  aglow  with  his  theme.  He  thus 
came  to  a  climax  :  — 

"  We  know  of  a  revivalist  and  reformer  infinitely  superior 
in  skill  and  power  to  those  of  all  sects  combined  ;  one  who 
will  continue  to  move  onward,  '  conquering  and  to  conquer,' 
till  he  has  '  renewed  a  right  spirit '  in  every  heart,  till  he  has 
reformed  fully  and  forever  the  countless  millions  of  our  race. 
Yes,  blessed  be  God,  we  know  his  name.  It  is  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  ;  the  Lion  of  the  Tribe  of  Judah  ;  the  Son  of  God  ; 
the  Saviour  of  the  world  !  "     ["  Amen  !  "  from  a  brother  ruin- 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  101 

ister.]1  The  preacher  responded:  "Hallelujah!  Glory  to 
God  in  the  highest !  Jesus  will  make  all  things  new.  Let 
heaven  proclaim  his  honor ;  let  earth  echo  and  re-echo  his 
praises  ;  and  let  eternity  respond  them  through  the  loug  and 
lofty  roll  of  its  interminable  ages  !  " 

Said  Mr.  Streeter  to  a  friend,  one  Monday  morn- 
ing:— 

"  I  had  something  tender  to  put  into  my  sermon  yesterday 
morning.  As  I  was  going  to  church,  a  poor  woman  came  to 
me  to  boiTOW  a  dollar  to  get  bread  for  her  children,  and,  as  I 
handed  it  to  her,  she  offered  me  a  small  locket  containing  a 
braid  of  hair  from  the  head  of  a  little  child  she  had  buried  a 
week  ago.  '  Take  back  the  locket,'  said  I ;  '  it  is  too  sacred 
for  my  hands  ;  but  keep  the  dollar,  you  are  welcome  to  that. 
It  does  me  more  good  to  give  it  than  you  to  receive  it.  and 
you  can  have  more  if  you  need.'  Then  she  wept,  and  said 
she  was  a  poor  widow,  living  in  such  a  street  near  b}^,  and 
her  poor  children  had  not  had  a  mouthful  since  yesterday 
noon,  and  she  had  nothing  to  bu}T  them  bread.  I  knew  by 
her  looks  that  she  told  me  the  truth,  but  to  satisfy  her  I 
went  and  saw  where  she  lived,  and  saw  her  children,  and  gave 
her  more  money,  and  told  her  I  would  look  to  her  wants  again 
to-morrow.  Then  I  went  into  the  pulpit,  and  put  the  incident 
into  a  sermon,  and  I  have  n't  preached  so  well,  nor  enjoyed 
the  service  so  much,  for  many  a  day." 

His  heart  was  often  overflowing  with  such  charities  as 
this,  through  all  his  ministry. 

He  was  the  life  of  a  conference  meeting,  and  his  Fri- 
day evening  conferences  in  the  Hanover  Street  vestry 
were  never  forgotten  by  those  who  attended  them.  As 
a  pastor,  lie  was  always,  welcomed  in  the  homes  of  his 

1  Rev.  A.  C.  Thomas. 


102  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

parishioners,  sharing  as  he  did  their  joys  and  sorrows 
with  the  sympathy  of  a  brother  and  friend.  As  an 
officiating  attendant  at  weddings,  he  was  exceedingly 
popular,  and  his  yearly  marriage  list,  for  a  long  time, 
exceeded  in  numbers  that  of  any  other  clergyman  in 
Boston.  On  funeral  occasions,  he  was  eminently  a  "  son 
of  consolation."  There  was  such  an  unction  in  his 
usual  manner  of  preaching  —  a  manner  so  peculiarly 
adapted  to  the  services  of  the  Sabbath  —  that  a  brother 
minister  who  highly  respected  him,  quaintly  suggested 
that  Sabbathstrain,  rather  than  Sebastian,  might  prop- 
erly be  used  as  his  name.  As  another  has  written  of 
him  :  "  He  was  an  intensely  magnetic  man.  It  was  not 
simply  what  he  said,  but  the  spiritual  unction  with 
which  he  uttered  the  truth,  that  won  and  held  you."  l 

Mr.  Streeter  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-four.  In  his 
last  days  he  suffered  intensely  from  asthma,  which  had 
long  afflicted  him.  He  has  left  the  example  of  a  true 
and  noble  life  to  the  churches. 

Rev.  Russell  Streeter  was  a  younger  brother  of 
Sebastian,  and  a  man  of  much  mental  vigor,  —  sharp, 
witt}r,  and  logical.  He  had  quite  a  number  of  minis- 
terial settlements  in  New  England,  and  in  them  all  was 
noted  for  his  ability  as  a  preacher,  for  his  peculiarities 
of  character,  and  his  good  qualities  as  a  neighbor  and 
citizen.  He  was  the  first  editor  of  the  "  Christian  In- 
telligencer," a  Universalist  weekly  paper,  published  at 
Portland,  Me.  ;  was  minister  in  that  city  for  some  years, 
and  afterwards,  much  later  in  life,  went  to  pay  the 
society  a  long  pastorate  visit  of  six  and  a  half  years, 

1  Rev.  A.  J.  Patterson,  D.  D. 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  103 

which  proved  very  agreeable  to  pastor  and  people.  He 
died  at  Woodstock,  Vt.,  Feb.  15,  1880. 

Mr.  Streeter  was  a  subject  of  impulses.  When  in  the 
happy  mood,  no  one,  it  seemed  to  us,  could  preach  a 
more  acceptable  sermon  than  he.  When  not  in  this 
favorable  frame  of  mind,  he  would  not  always  do  justice 
to  himself.  We  can  never  forget  a  discourse  (the  clos- 
ing one)  at  a  Conference  in  Orford,  N.  H.,  from  the  text, 
"  Behold  how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren 
to  dwell  together  in  unity."  The  sermons  previously 
delivered  were  timely,  and  had  been  well  received,  and 
he  was  fully  in  the  spirit  of  them  all,  and  felt  that  he 
had  the  strong  sympathies  of  his  hearers.  His  words 
"  dropped  like  the  rain,  and  distilled  as  the  dew." 
Doctrine,  illustration,  exhortation,  application,  all  were 
excellent,  and  there  was  an  unction  in  the  whole  dis- 
course that  left  upon  the  audience  impressions  most 
highly  favorable  to  the  faith  he  was  setting  forth.  On 
another  occasion,  at  the  closing  of  a  session  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Convention,  at  Lebanon,  he  was  the  last 
preacher  of  the  occasion.  Very  able  and  impressive 
discourses  had  been  delivered  by  five  other  ministers. 
Mr.  Streeter,  in  an  apparently  extemporaneous  effort, 
took  special  notice  of  the  matter  and  manner  of  them 
all,  and  of  the  characters  of  the  speakers  ;  and  when  he 
alluded  to  the  sermon  of  the  young  and  beloved  Han- 
bcom,  as  "  an  eloquent  appeal  from  one  whose  hollow 
and  sepulchral  tones  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  youth- 
ful and  faithful  speaker  was  nearing  the  tomb,"  the 
effect  was  exceedingly  impressive. 

During  the  editorial  career  of  Mr.  Streeter  with  the 
"Christian  Intelligencer,"  he  proved  himself  an  able 
and  effective  writer,  and  did  much  to  call  attention  to 


104  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

the  religious  principles  which  he  advocated.  While  in 
Portland,  he  was  neighbor  to  Dr.  Edward  Payson,  of 
distinguished  memory  in  the  Congregational  Churches  ; 
a  very  zealous  advocate  of  Christianity,  as  he  under- 
stood it,  and  who  regarded  the  Gospel  as  promulgated 
by  Mr.  Streeter  as  a  pernicious  and  deadly  heresy. 
Mr.  Streeter  was  somewhat  fond  of  looking  after  him, 
and  noting  what  he  considered  to  be  some  of  his  errors 
in  doctrine.  One  evening  the  two  happened  to  greet 
each  other  at  a  meeting  where  Dr.  Payson  presided  and 
which  Mr.  Streeter  attended.  Soon  theological  ques- 
tioning and  cross  questioning  took  place,  and  some  very 
strong  denunciatory  words  were  used  by  the  Doctor,  who 
was  evidently  much  excited.  Mr.  Streeter  was  cool  and 
keen  in  his  replies,  and  soon  pushed  the  Doctor  into 
a  very  close  corner,  causing  him  to  contradict  himself, 
and  to  appear  to  his  friends  and  all  present  to  great 
disadvantage.  It  was  a  triumph  of  temper  as  well  as 
of  theological  ability.  The  Doctor,  saintly  man  as  he 
surely  was,  evidently  felt  the  force  of  his  neighbor's 
replies  to  him. 

Mr.  Streeter  was  an  able  writer.  His  "  Familiar 
Conversations"  have  been  much  read.  They  were 
adapted  to  the  time  in  which  they  were  written,  and 
so  were  some  of  his  works  on  the  revival  movements  of 
the  Orthodox  Churches  in  New  England  and  elsewhere, 
thirty  or  forty  years  ago.  His  little  volume  entitled, 
"  The  Latest  News  from  Three  Worlds,  —  Heaven, 
Earth,  and  Hell,"  was  a  scorching  satire  upon  the  ex- 
travagances connected  with  these  movements.  Scrip- 
tural argument  and  strong  logic  are  mixed  with  keenest 
wit,  mirthfulness,  tenderness,  and  rhetoric  most  glowing 
and  redundant.     The  ministers  and  churches  to  whom 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  105 

these  reviews  were  addressed  must  have  seen  them- 
selves in  no  very  commendable  light  in  that  glass. 
Those  who  have  once  read  the  book  attentively  are  not 
likely  to  forget  it.  While  engaged  in  the  "  Burchard 
War"  in  Vermont,  he  published  a  pamphlet  entitled, 
"  Mirror  of  Calvinistic  Fanaticism  ;  or,  Jedediah  Bur- 
chard &  Co.,  During  a  Protracted  Meeting  of  Twenty- 
six  Days  in  Woodstock,  Vt."  It  was  an  effective 
issue. 

During  most  of  his  ministr}r,  Mr.  Streeter  was  a  zeal- 
ous and  successful  advocate  of  the  temperance  reform. 
His  addresses  were  always  lively  and  interesting,  full  of 
anecdote,  ludicrous  hits,  and  quaint  saj'ings.  He  was 
popular  in  all  places  and  with  all  sects  in  this  work,  and 
many  who  would  hardly  consent  to  hear  him  advocate 
his  religious  sentiments  realized  much  enjoyment  in 
listening  to  his  defence  of  temperance  principles.  On 
one  occasion  he  was  in  the  pulpit  with  a  clergyman 
whose  sense  of  self-dignity  was  "  above  the  ordinary," 
and  who  evidently  had  no  strong  inclination  to  be  the 
subject  of  a  joke.  While  Mr.  Streeter  was  addressing 
the  meeting,  he  took  occasion  to  describe  the  different 
mixtures  of  strong  drink  which  were  in  use  almost 
everywhere  previous  to  the  temperance  reformation. 
"  The  last  article  of  all,"  said  he,  "  added  to  perfect  the 
dram,  was — was  —  really,  strange  to  say,  but  I  have 
just  now  lost  the  name  !  Will  some  one  please  to  men- 
tion it?"  "Nutmeg!"  exclaimed  the  dignified  cler- 
gyman near  him.  "  That 's  it !  "  responded  Mr.  Streeter. 
"  He  's  well  informed  in  these  matters,  I  "11    warrant 

you." 

We  have  heard  an  account  of  his  attendance,  in 
Western  New  York,  at  a  meeting  where  a  Methodist 


106  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

and  a  Universalist  were  to  preach  in  the  same  meeting- 
house one  Sunday.  The  Universalist  was  to  speak  in 
the  morning,  and  the  Methodist  in  the  afternoon.  In  the 
last  sermon  the  preacher  was  very  severe  in  his  treat- 
ment of  Universalists  and  their  doctrine.  Mr.  Streeter, 
seeing  that  there  would  be  no  opportunity  for  a  re- 
joinder to  his  statements,  asked  his  ministering  brother 
the  privilege  of  taking  his  place  in  offering  the  closing 
pniyer,  in  which,  in  the  most  reverential,  solemn,  and 
emphatic  manner,  he  briefly  noted  what  he  considered 
the  misrepresentations  of  the  last  speaker,  and  left  upon 
the  audience  an  impression  decidedly  favorable  to  his 
own  faith.  The  whole  exercise,  quaint  as  it  was,  was 
so  remarkably  able  and  timely,  that  all  criticism  of  it 
seemed  to  be  silenced. 

Rev.  Thomas  Jones  was  a  successor  of  Rev.  John 
Murray,  at  Gloucester,  Mass.  He  came  from  the  Meth- 
odists in  England,  and  once  belonged  to  the  Lady 
Huntington  connection.  He  was  a  veritable  Welsh- 
man, honest,  kind-hearted,  blunt  in  speech,  and  unique 
in  his  method  and  style  of  sermonizing.  His  discourses 
were  most  positive  statements  of  Universalism,  and 
abounded  in  Scriptural  quotations.  Some  one  wittily 
said  of  Father  Balfour,  that  so  great  was  his  reliance 
on  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  that  he  would  go  to  it 
to  find  out  whether  a  suspected  bank-note  were  counter- 
feit or  not.  A  parishioner  of  Father  Jones  remarked 
of  him,  that  he  could  hardly  get  through  saying  grace, 
even  at  a  Fourth  of  July  festival,  without  repeat- 
ing the  passage,  "  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in 
Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive."  He  had  a  long  set- 
tlement in  Gloucester,  and  died  there  at  a  ripe  old  age 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  107 

(eighty-three),  Aug.  20,  1846.  The  discourse  at  the 
funeral  was  delivered  by  Rev.  A.  D.  Mayo,  the  offici- 
ating minister  and  pastor  at  the  time.  He  paid,  a  just 
tribute  to  the  honored  old  Christian  soldier,  and  to  the 
early  defenders  of  our  faith  in  America. 

Rev.  Paul  Dean  received  fellowship  as  a  Universa- 
list  minister  in  1805.  He  afterwards  preached,  exten- 
sively in  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,  and.  moved,  to 
Whitestown,  N.  Y.,  in  1810.  He  traversed  frequently 
large  portions  of  Central  and.  Western  New  York,  and. 
held  several  successful  discussions,  —  two,  particularly, 
with  Rev.  Mr.  Lacy,  then  a  Methodist,  afterwards  an 
Episcopalian  Bishop.  He  removed  to  Boston  in  1813, 
and  in  1823  his  friends  left  the  First  Church,  and  built 
for  him  the  church  in  Bulfinch  Street,  now  Unitarian. 
About  1828,  he  withdrew  from  the  fellowship  of  the 
Universalists,  and,  with  a  few  others,  formed  the 
"  Massachusetts  Restorationist  Association."  On  its 
decline  he  left  Boston,  and  settled  in  Framingham,  in 
1840.  He  was  an  eloquent  and  popular  preacher,  and 
was  for  many  years  an  active  Freemason,  holding,  dur- 
ing the  greater  part  of  his  manhood,  the  highest  offices 
of  that  Order  in  the  United  States.  He  died  in  Fra- 
mingham,  of  paralysis,  Oct.  5,  1860,  aged  seventy-seven 
years. 

In  his  early  ministry,  Mr.  Dean,  while  in  Central 
New  York,  was  subject  to  the  oppositions  which  others 
of  his  fraternity  sometimes  encountered.  On  one  occa- 
sion, an  over-zealous  woman  was  so  highly  incensed  at 
the  expectation  of  his  coming  to  the  house  where  she 
resided,  that  she  had  in  preparation  a  kettle  of  hot  water 
with  which  to  greet  him,  but  was  prevented  by  others 
from  effecting  her  evil  design. 


108  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

An  honest  and  clear-minded  man  was  Rev.  Walter 
Balfour,  who  came  from  his  native  Scotland  to 
Charlestown,  Mass.  He  was  first  a  Congregationalist, 
and  afterwards  a  Baptist,  and  an  acceptable  preacher 
with  both  sects ;  a  Greek  and  Hebrew  scholar,  and 
well  instructed  in  sacred  literature.  A  most  consci- 
entious believer  was  he  in  the  old  theology  of  Scottish 
orthodoxy.  He  had  never  dreamed  that  Universalism 
could  be  true.  But  he  was  a  reader  and  thinker,  and 
especially  inclined  to  the  good  use  of  his  logical  powers. 
He  read  the  works  of  American  orthodox  authors, 
among  whom  was  Professor  Stuart  of  Andover,  for 
whose  opinions  he  had  profound  respect.  The  Pro- 
fessor became  engaged  in  a  controversy  with  the  emi- 
nent Unitarian,  Dr.  Channing,  and  Mr.  Balfour  followed 
up  the  discussion  with  deep  interest.  In  his  attempts 
to  set  forth  Christ  as  equal  with  God,  the  Professor 
cited  the  words  of  the  Revelator  (Rev.  v.  13),  where 
"  things  in  heaven,  in  earth,  and  under  the  earth  "  (a 
periphrasis  for  the  universe),  are  said  to  bow  the  knee 
to  Jesus,  and  ascribe  blessing,  honor,  glory,  and  power 
to  him.  "  If  this  be  not  spiritual  worship,"  says  the 
Professor,  "  and  if  Christ  be  not  the  object  of  it  here,  I 
am  unable  to  produce  a  case  where  worship  can  be 
called  spiritual  and  divine."  Mr.  Balfour  read  and 
pondered.  He  had  not  doubted  the  Trinity,  the  equal- 
ity of  Christ  with  the  Father.  But  what  is  the  import 
of  this  statement,  that  the  universe  is  offering  spiritual 
worship  to  Christ  ?  Is  this  the  Professor's  meaning  ? 
Would  he  thus  avow  the  truth  of  Universalism  ?  He 
becomes  anxious  on  the  subject ;  addresses  a  respect- 
ful but  earnest  letter  to  the  Andover  teacher,  asking 
an   explanation  of  this  statement ;  awaits  patiently  an 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  109 

answer,  but  none  comes.  Writes  again  and  again,  still  re- 
ceiving no  reply.  After  nearly  a  year  and  a  half,  his  last 
appeal  is  made.  An  equivocal  answer  came,  expressing 
unwillingness  to  reply  to  anonymous  newspaper  writers  ! 
Frivolous  pretension,  and  in  discreditable  contrast  with 
the  honesty  and  sincerity  of  the  inquirer.  Bound  to 
oppose  Universalis m,  as  the  creed  of  the  Institution 
compelled  him  to,  why  would  not  the  Professor  seek  to 
save  this  inquirer  from  its  fatal  enticements  ?  But  the 
Professor's  neglect  was  the  inquirer's  opportunity.  He 
continued  his  inquiries,  and  the  result  was  his  conver- 
sion to  the  Universalist  faith,  his  life  interest  in  it  after- 
wards, and  the  writing  of  volumes  in  its  defence,  which 
aided  in  disseminating  a  knowledge  of  it  widely  through- 
out the  land.  Thus  Andover  inadvertently,  through 
the  unwillingness  of  this  its  teacher  to  save  the  honest 
inquirer  from  error,  gave  to  the  Universalist  Church 
one  of  its  ablest,  most  devoted,  and  worthy  ministers 
and  defenders.     That  is  a  part  of  its  history  henceforth. 

A  minister  of  marked  character,  and  of  much  service 
to  the  Universalist  Church,  was  Rev.  John  Bisbe.  He 
was  a  Massachusetts  man,  and  graduated  at  Brown 
University,  in  1814.  He  was  a  student  of  law  for  a 
short  time  in  Taunton,  and  while  employed  as  a  teacher 
in  New  Hampshire,  became  acquainted  with  Univer- 
salism,  and  subsequently  a  preacher  of  it.  His  reading 
was  extensive,  and  his  knowledge  of  the  English  lan- 
guage quite  thorough.  In  ordinary  conversation  he  ex- 
pressed himself  with  a  striking  precision.  He  preached 
first  in  Connecticut  and  Western  Massachusetts,  and 
was  settled  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  from  1824  to  1827,  when 
he  became  pastor  of  the  Universalist  Church  in  Port- 


110  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

land,  Me.  He  was  an  impressive  preacher,  with  no 
attempt  at  the  sensational.  His  personal  appearance 
was  notable :  a  thin  man,  of  stiff,  perpendicular  car- 
riage and  measured  walk  ;  with  light  hair,  pale  face, 
and  very  dark  eyes,  almost  a  glittering  black.  The 
distinguished  literary  author,  John  Neal,  said  of  him  :  — 

"  I  have  heard  Mr.  Bisbe  repeatedly,  and  the  more  I  hear 
him  the  better  I  like  him.  He  is  fervid,  free,  and  powerful, 
uses  lofty  and  generous  language,  and  where  he  fails  to 
reason,  it  would  appear  to  be  not  so  much  from  a  want  of 
metaphysical  power  as  from  a  habit  of  disregarding  it.  From 
his  appearance  you  would  not  expect  much  ;  but,  notwith- 
standing this,  he  is  decidedly  the  most  eloquent  preacher  in 
our  part  of  the  country.  He  is,  moreover,  a  man  of  exceed- 
ingly happy  erudition." 

The  editor  of  the  "  Eastern  Argus "  wrote  of  him 
as  :  — 

"  A  distinguished  and  talented  preacher,  of  transcendent 
powers  of  mind  and  eloquence  in  the  pulpit ;  eloquence  that 
moved  and  burned  as  he  breathed  it,  and  that  sunk  deep  into 
the  heart  through  the  understanding  as  well  as  the  passions 
of  his  audience." 

He  took  especial  interest  in  the  church  institution, 
in  the  Bible-class  for  scriptural  exposition,  and  in  all 
that  pertained  to  personal  religious  culture  and  the 
work  of  Christian  charity.  He  died  March  1,  1829, 
aged  thirty  six.  The  death  scene  was  indicative  of  the 
strength  and  joy  of  his  faith. 

Soon  after  Rev.  Thomas  F.  King  came  to  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  he  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Bisbe.  He  had 
a  high  admiration  of  the  talents  and  worth  of  the  man 
before    they  met.     Previous   to  the   introduction,  Mr. 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  Ill 

King  had  been  told  of  the  stiffness  and  precision  of  Mr. 
Bisbe  in  his  salutations  of  others,  and  was  humorously 
inclined  to  use  a  little  of  the  same  precision  in  their  first 
greeting.  The  effect,  to  an  observer,  was  amusing  in 
the  extreme.     But  both  parties  preserved  their  dignity. 

Among  the  foremost  of  the  advocates  of  this  old  and 
new  Gospel  in  New  England,  we  may  justly  name  the 
sturdy  and  indefatigable  Thomas  Whittemore.  He 
began  earthly  life  with  the  present  century,  Jan.  1, 
1800.  He  came  up  from  life's  humblest  walks.  His 
parents  educated  him  religiously  in  moderate  Calvinistic 
sentiments,  but  he  grew  out  of  them  and  became  scepti- 
cal, until  his  attention  was  arrested  and  his  mind  deeply 
impressed  by  the  preaching  of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballon,  in 
Boston.  An  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Ballou  turned  his 
attention  to  the  ministry,  and  he  became  a  diligent 
student  in  preparation  for  that  calling.  His  first  ser- 
mon, written  upon  the  bench  at  intervals  between  his 
working  hours,  was  preached  in  Roxbury,  his  dress  for 
the  occasion  providentially  coming  in  to  him,  as  he  was 
too  poor  to  obtain  it  himself.  His  first  pastorate  was 
in  Milford,  his  second  and  longer  one  in  Cambridgeport, 
Mass.,  in  which  place  he  had  his  home  until  his  death. 
His  work  as  editor  of  the  "  Trumpet  "  was  a  long  and 
vigorous  one,  and  the  volumes  that  came  from  his  pen 
beside  this  weekly  periodical  were  of  much  value  to 
the  Christian  Church.  Historical,  exegetical,  musical, 
were  they,  all  for  the  good  of  the  Christian  cause,  in 
whose  interest  it  was  his  delight  to  work.  He  was  a 
proud  banner-bearer  of  his  church.  Universalism  was 
to  him  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  theology  and  religion. 
He  saw  nothing  that  could  take  its  place,  and  held  no 


112  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

fellowship  with  those  who  were  disposed  to  compromise 
its  claims.  His  editorial  pen  was  alive  with  clear  scrip- 
tural expositions,  watchful  warnings  against  the  religious 
errors  of  the  times,  and  bold  and  defiant  defences  of 
what  he  accepted  as  Christian  truth.  His  "  Modern 
History  of  Universalism  "  is  a  book  of  rare  merit,  and 
his  "  Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse  "  one  of  the  plain- 
est and  most  sensible  ever  given  to  the  public,  and 
one  which  theological  critics  of  the  dominant  sects  have 
been  wary  enough  to  let  alone.  His  four  volumes  of 
the  life  and  writings  of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou  make  out 
a  valuable  epitome  of  the  history  of  Universalism  in 
Massachusetts  and  in  other  parts  of  New  England,  from 
the  beginning  to  the  middle  of  the  century.  He  had 
ready  wit,  a  never-failing  flow  of  spirits,  and  a  genial 
temperament,  which  drew  to  him  hosts  of  friends.  His 
preaching  was  always  popular  with  the  masses,  —  scrip- 
tural, logical,  often  strikingly  illustrated,  if  occasionally 
in  a  homely  way,  fervent  and  telling  with  his  congrega- 
tions. He  was  a  welcome  evangelist  all  over  New  Eng- 
land. He  was  a  man  of  rare  business  qualifications  also. 
He  rendered  much  civic  service  to  the  State  as  legis- 
lator, and  was  highly  efficient  as  president  and  director 
of  bank  and  railroad  corporations.  He  was  stricken 
with  paralysis  more  than  a  year  before  his  decease,  and 
never  regained  his  vigor.  He  departed  this  life  in 
1861,  in  his  sixty-second  year.1 

Mr.  Whittemore  is  remembered  as  a  controversialist, 
and  with  those  who  beheld  him  chiefly  in  this  light 
his  other  qualities  may  not  have  been  fairly  estimated. 

1  For  a  more  particular  account  of  Dr.  Whittemore,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  his  Memoir,  by  the  author  of  this  work.  Universalist  Pub- 
lishing House,  1878. 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  113 

His  very  position  as  a  Christian  theologian  was  aggres- 
sive. He  came  into  the  field  to  face  what  he  deemed 
religious  error,  and  to  give  it  battle,  asking  only  that 
freedom  of  thought  and  expression  which  Christian 
faithfulness  demands.  During  his  active  life,  years 
ago,  a  ministering  brother  (Rev.  T.  J.  Sawyer,  D.  D.) 
wrote  of  him  :  — 

"  Perhaps  some  may  think  him  wanting  in  refinement  and 
grace,  and  others,  I  know,  regard  him  as  at  times  bolder 
and  plainer  than  necessary .  That  he  deals  severely  with 
some  of  his  opposers  is  certain,  yet,  with  all  his  severity, 
there  is  a  frankness  and  manliness  which  challenges  the 
respect  even  of  his  enemies.  Then  it  is  but  just  to  remem- 
ber the  school  in  which  he  has  been  disciplined.  He  who  has 
been  called  to  stand  at  the  head  of  the  prominent  Universa- 
list  press  of  New  England  for  the  last  twenty  years  must 
have  learned  ere  this  to  defend  himself  and  his  course.  It 
has  been  no  warfare  for  paper  hats  and  silk  gloves.  The 
head  needed  a  helmet  of  steel,  and  the  hand  must  know  how 
to  grasp  the  sword  and  spear.  Reflect  for  one  moment  on  the 
Batcheldors,  the  McClures,  the  Cooks,  the  Matthew  Hale 
Smiths,  with  whom  Mr.  Whittemore  has  been  called  to  con- 
tend, and  then  tell  me  if  the  old  soldier  has  not  come  out  of 
the  fight  with  charity  and  kindness,  worthy  of  admiration. 
Paul  fought  with  beasts  at  Ephesus  ;  Whittemore  has  been 
scarcely  more  fortunate  in  Boston.  Upon  the  whole,  Mr. 
Whittemore  is  a  man  whose  life  and  character  deserve  high 
consideration.  He  is  supposed  by  some  to  be  too  much  a 
party  man,  and  to  consult  with  too  much  exclusiveness  the 
interest  of  the  denomination  of  which  he  is  so  prominent  a 
member.  Perhaps  it  is  so,  but  if  this  charge  is  sustained 
against  him,  I  hope  I  may  be  included  in  the  same  condemna- 
tion." i 

1  "  Universalist  Miscellany,"  Vol.  VI.,  p.  290. 


114  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Mr.  Whittemore's  strong  traits  were :  1.  Positiveness 
of  interest  in  the  Christian  Gospel.  He  had  a  positive 
faith  to  promote  and  defend.  He  seemed  to  realize  the 
force  of  Paul's  statements :  "  I  know  whom  I  have 
believed."  "  Therefore  we  are  always  confident."  2. 
Fervor.  He  believed  in  Christian  earnestness  and  zeal ; 
was  more  afraid  of  frost  than  of  fire  in  the  churches. 
8.  Industry.  This  in  him  was  indomitable.  One  of 
his  sayings  was,  "Dead  fish  float  with  the  tide, — live 
ones  swim  against  it."  He  was  one  of  the  living  ones, 
who  stemmed  opposition  and  wrought  victories.  The 
grand  words  of  our  poet  Fields  are  illustrative  of 
him,  — 

"  Souls  that  freed  from  prison  bars, 
Struck  the  blows  themselves  have  won, 
Grappling  with  their  evil  stars, 
Stand,  like  Uriel,  in  the  sun." 

Another  minister  of  the  same  ancestral  family  was 
Rev.  Benjamin  Whittemore,  D.  D.,  born  in  Lancas- 
ter, Mass.,  May  30,  1801  ;  died  in  Mattapan,  Boston, 
April  26,  1881.  He  was  educated  at  the  academies 
in  Lancaster  and  Groton,  and  became  in  early  life  a 
convert  to  Universalism,  mainly  through  reading  the 
writings  of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou.  He  felt  impelled  to 
enter  the  ministry.  He  had  successful  pastorates  in 
West  Scituate,  Mass.  ;  Troy,  N.  Y. ;  South  Boston,  Mass. ; 
and  Norwich,  Conn.  In  1843,  he  took  possession  of 
the  old  homestead  in  Lancaster,  where  he  remained  ten 
years  without  pastoral  charge,  but  working  in  various 
ways  for  the  promotion  of  the  Christian  cause.  He 
was  instrumental  in  establishing  a  Universalist  society 
in  Fitchburg,  Mass.  In  his  later  years  he  became  blind, 
but,  in  spite  of  this  infirmity,  he  continued  to  preach 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  115 

occasionally,  repeating  his  hymns  and  Scripture  lessons 
from  memory.  He  was  always  heartily  engaged  in  his 
work.  As  an  expositor  of  the  Scriptures  he  possessed 
eminent  ability,  and  in  preaching,  his  logical  method 
and  aptness  enabled  him  to  express  his  convictions  with 
great  force.  He  was  a  sturdy  defender  of  Christianity 
against  the  objections  of  the  doubting  and  unbelieving. 
He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Sacred  Theology, 
of  Tuft's  College,  in  1867.  His  wife  was  Mandana, 
the  third  daughter  of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou.  They  were 
united  in  life  for  nearly  sixty  years.  His  intellect 
was  unclouded  to  the  last,  and  "his  faith  grew  brighter 
as  his  spirit  took  its  flight." 

An  eminent  and  effective  "  defender  of  the  faith  " 
was  Rev.  Dolphtjs  Skinner,  D.  D.,  whose  death  took 
place  in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  in  1869.  He  was  born  in  West- 
moreland, N.  H.,  in  1800,  and  passed  his  minority  in 
labor  on  a  farm,  attendance  at  a  neighboring  academy, 
and  keeping  school.  His  theological  studies  were  with 
Rev.  S.  C.  Loveland,  of  Reading,  Vt.,  and  he  entered 
the  ministry  in  1823.  The  most  of  his  life  was  passed 
in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  where  as  preacher  and  editor  he  proved 
himself  one  of  the  ablest  promulgators  of  the  Universa- 
list  faith  in  the  land.  The  "  Evangelical  Magazine  and 
Gospel  Advocate,"  of  which  he  was  for  many  years 
editor,  had  a  large  circulation.  He  was  a  very  popular 
preacher  in  Central  New  York.  Of  commanding  per- 
son, with  a  voice  of  great  volume  and  softness,  with 
the  readiest  use  of  language,  he  was  a  favorite  with  the 
people.  His  discourses  were  strong,  doctrinally  and 
practically,  and  his  ministries  at  funerals  were  exceed- 
ingly satisfactory.     During  his  ministry  of  forty  years, 


116  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

he  preached  over  five  thousand  discourses.  He  was  the 
author  of  valuable  books  and  pamphlets.  His  letters 
to  Drs.  Aiken  and  Lansing,  and  his  discussion  with 
Rev.  Alexander  Campbell,  evince  much  ability.  He 
was  a  Christian  reformer.  The  "  Clinton  Liberal  Insti- 
tute "  has  been  greatly  indebted  to  his  timely  and 
unwearied  exertions  for  its  prosperity.  He  was  a 
Christian  patriot  also,  and  took  a  lively  interest  in 
the  political  welfare  of  his  country.  The  termination 
of  his  earthly  life  was  peaceful.  "  I  am  an  old  soldier," 
said  he  to  his  physician,  "  and  am  about  to  receive  my 
discharge."  After  a  night  of  quiet  from  his  protracted 
pain,  he  entered  that  morning  which  opens  the  resur- 
rection life  to  man. 

A  brother  of  Dolphus  was  Rev.  Waeeen  Skinner, 
who  passed  the  great  part  of  his  life  in  Vermont,  and 
who  was  well  known  there,  and  in  most  of  New  Eng- 
land, as  a  talented  and  useful  minister.  His  personal 
appearance  was,  like  that  of  his  brother,  imposing,  and 
his  discoursing,  if  a  little  heavy  in  manner  at  times, 
always  methodical  and  sound.  He  was  a  staunch  friend 
of  Universalism,  and  had  great  faith  in  its  evangelizing 
power.  During  some  part  of  his  ministry  he  was  a 
useful  expository  writer  in  the  church  journals.  He 
did  much  valuable  missionary  work,  and  lived  to  a  ripe 
old  age  in  full  possession  of  his  mental  powers.  He 
gave  a  son  to  the  ministry,  Rev.  Charles  A.  Skinner, 
now  of  Somerville,  Mass. 

Rev.  Otis  A.  Skinner  was  an  honor  to  the  church. 
His  native  place  was  Royalton,  Vt.,  but  he  came  forth 
as  a  minister  from  Langdon,  N.  H.,  at  the  early  age  of 


/ '  //  >  ^£.  y/rs  /  /  j  ■  ,  ■   2 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  117 

nineteen.  He  was  apprenticed  to  a  clothier  for  a  wliile 
before  his  ministry  began.  From  his  first  school  days 
he  was  thoughtful  and  studious,  and  succeeded  in  pain- 
ing a  very  good  English  education,  beside  giving  some 
attention  to  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages.  He  was 
for  some  time  a  student  with  Rev.  S.  C.  Loveland,  of 
Reading,  Vt.  The  writer  first  saw  him  at  Kingston, 
N.  H.,  at  the  session  of  the  Rockingham  Association,  in 
1828.  He  was  just  twenty-one,  and  a  most  attractive 
young  man  to  behold,  a  sweet  sunshiny  glow  in  his 
comely  countenance,  which  seemed  most  agreeably  set 
in  his  golden  ringlets  of  hair.  We  heard  him  preach 
then,  at  a  private  house,  to  a  very  good  audience  in  the 
evening.  He  stood  in  front  of  the  old  famil}r  clock,  and 
gave  us  a  very  sensible  and  well-arranged  discourse 
from  the  text,  "  He  that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bear- 
ing precious  seed,  shall  doubtless  come  again  with  re- 
joicing, bringing  his  sheaves  with  him  "  (Ps.  cxxvi.  6). 
It  was  full  of  the  plainest  Universalism.  He  was  soon 
settled  in  Woburn,  Mass.,  where  he  gave  a  good  ac- 
count of  himself,  and  afterwards  in  Baltimore,  Md., 
where  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Angela,  eldest 
daughter  of  Rev.  Sebastian  Streeter.  He  had  a  vigorous 
ministry  in  that  city,  including  a  public  theological 
controversy  with  Rev.  Mr.  Breckenridge  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  From  Baltimore  he  came  back  to  Massa- 
chusetts, and  settled  in  Haverhill,  where  he  edited  for 
a  time  the  "  Gospel  Sun,"  as  he  had  edited  the  "  South- 
ern Pioneer  "  in  Baltimore. 

A  new  Universalist  society  having  been  formed  of 
worshippers  in  Boylston  Hall,  Boston,  he  was  invited  to 
become  its  pastor.  So  prosperous  was  his  ministry, 
that  a  church  edifice  was  soon  erected  in  Warren  Street. 


118  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Here  his  pulpit  services  and  pastoral  work  were  very 
acceptable.  He  became  a  publisher  of  valuable  books, 
and  again  the  editor  of  a  monthly  journal,  "  The  Uni- 
versalist  Miscellany.''  In  1846  he  became  pastor  of 
Orchard  Street  Universalist  Church  in  New  York  city  ; 
and  in  1848  consented  to  be  agent  for  raising  "$100,000 
for  the  new  college  (now  Tufts)  proposed  to  be  erected 
in  Med  ford,  Mass.  For  seven  years  he  was  in  this 
laudable  work,  giving  it  his  faithful  attention  in  addi- 
tion to  his  duties  as  pastor  of  the  Warren  Street  Church, 
to  the  ministry  of  which  he  had  been  invited  again  most 
unanimously.  No  man  could  have  been  in  his  "  labors 
more  abundant"  than  he  in  this  canvassing  for  the  new 
college.  He  solicited  everywhere,  and  especially  among 
those  of  like  faith  with  himself.  Indifference,  the 
averted  eye  or  "  cold  shoulder,"  chilled  not  his  ardor. 
He  drew,  by  his  persuasive  words,  dollars  from  pockets 
that  seemed  at  his  first  call  firmly  closed  against  him. 
He  succeeded  in  securing  the  amount  needed  for  the 
endowment  of  the  college  and  its  necessary  expenses, 
superintended  the  erection  of  the  buildings,  and  at 
times  when  the  means  could  not  otherwise  be  readily 
obtained,  paid  the  workmen  from  his  quarterly  pastor's 
income.  One  of  the  proudest  days  of  his  life  was  that 
on  which  the  corner-stone  of  the  college  was  laid. 
Since  then,  the  institution  has  prospered  ;  larger  en- 
dowments have  given  it  strength,  faithful  teachers  have 
honored  it,  and  its  sons  have  gone  forth  bearing  with 
them  the  evidences  of  the  scholarship  which  can  be 
secured  to  its  students.  Beautiful  for  outward  situa- 
tion, a  literary  Mount  Zion  of  the  Universalist  Church 
in  New  England,  it  gives  promise  of  yet  increasing 
prosperity.     But  never  will  it  outgrow  its  indebtedness 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  119 

to  its  first  financial  agent,  who  wrought  so  indefatigably, 
nobly,  and  successfully  in  its  behalf. 

In  1857  Mr.  Skinner  was  induced  by  family  consid- 
erations to  move  West.  After  residing  in  Elgin,  Kansas 
County,  111.,  for  a  few  months,  he  was  invited  and  per- 
suaded to  become  president  of  Lombard  University,  at 
Galesburg,  111.  Here  again  was  work  for  him,  as  the 
college  needed  much  exertion  that  it  might  prosper. 
And  he  aided  it  essentially.  But  the  task  was  too 
heavy,  and  after  two  years'  hard  service  his  health 
gave  way.  The  death  of  his  brother  Samuel  occurring 
at  Chicago,  he  was  called  upon  to  give  attention  to  his 
financial  affairs.  This  was  an  additional  burden  too 
great  for  him  to  bear,  but  still  his  spirit  for  a  while 
seemed  proof  against  his  bodily  weaknesses.  He  re- 
moved to  Joliet,  and  took  upon  him  more  than  two 
healthful  men  could  perform.  He  would  preach  to  his 
own  congregation  in  Joliet  on  Sunday  morning,  then 
ride  five  miles  to  Lockport  and  preach  at  one  o'clock, 
thence  nine  miles  to  Plainfield  and  hold  a  service  at 
three,  and  then  return  home  to  meet  a  crowd  of  listen- 
ers in  his  own  church  in  the  evening.  This,  added  to 
his  missionary  work  in  the  adjoining  country  towns, 
including  funeral  services  on  other  days  of  the  week, 
together  with  his  business  perplexities  in  the  settlement 
of  his  brother's  estate,  proved  too  much  for  him.  The  end 
of  this  useful  earthly  life  was  near  ;  fever  set  in,  and  did 
its  work  rapidly.  It  was  the  Christian  believer's  death 
scene.  His  faith  was  strong,  his  hope  bright,  his  face 
and  thought  were  turned  heavenward.  The  last  inter- 
view with  a  beloved  daughter  was  inexpressibly  touch- 
ing,—  her  heroic  self-control  and  his  calm,  heavenly 
resignation.  His  departure  was  the  Christian  saint's 
triumph.     It  occurred  Sect.  18   1861. 


120  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

There  was  nothing  of  the  flashy  or  sensational  in  the 
ministry  of  Mr.  Skinner.  He  was  a  plain,  logical,  prac- 
tical preacher,  "in  doctrine  showing  uncorruptness," 
an  able  expounder  of  the  Scriptures,  and  a  faithful 
looker-up  of  religious  error.  His  strictures  on  the  re- 
vivalism of  Rev.  Mr.  Knapp  in  Boston,  and  his  review 
of  Rev.  Theodore  Parker's  theology,  in  the  "  Universa- 
list  Miscellany,"  were  good  evidences  of  his  fidelity  to 
the  New  Testament  Gospel  and  the  intent  of  its  work 
with  mankind.  As  a  pastor  he  was  not  to  be  excelled. 
He  knew  his  flocks  at  their  homes,  and  personal  attach- 
ments to  him  as  a  friend,  adviser,  and  companion  were 
very  strong.  He  was  in  this  calling  one  of  the  models. 
He  received  the  degree  of  A.  M.  from  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, and  that  of  D.  D.  from  Lombard. 

Of  his  brother  Samuel  P.  we  may  say  that  he  was 
a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  endowments.  He  was  for 
a  time  in  the  ministry,  and  preached  some  in  New 
England.  He  afterwards  became  editor  of  the  "  New 
Covenant,"  in  Chicago.  He  was  a  quiet  and  sensible 
preacher,  and  excelled  as  a  writer  of  clear,  compact, 
and  well-arranged  expositions  of  Scripture,  many  of 
which  enriched  the  columns  of  his  paper. 

Rev.  Joseph  Obeeltn  Skinner  was  of  Piermont, 
N.  H.,  born  there  in  1816.  He  came  into  the  ministry 
through  much  hard  study  and  striving.  Trained  in  the 
old  theology  of  New  England,  he  became  a  believer  in 
Universalism  by  being  first  awakened  to  a  consideration 
of  its  doctrines  by  the  preaching  of  Rev.  John  Moore. 
In  1834  he  went  to  Lowell,  Mass.,  and  was  for  a  time 
employed   in   a   cotton-mill.     He    was   encouraged   by 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  121 

Rev.  T.  B.  Thayer,  then  pastor  of  the  First  Universa- 
list  Church  in  that  cit}T,  to  enter  the  ministry,  and  was 
afterwards  a  student  of  theology  in  the  family  of  Rev. 
Sylvanus  Cobb,  of  Maiden,  Mass.  He  was  minister  in 
Holliston,  Framingham,  Dudley,  and  Concord,  Mass.  ; 
in  Ludlow  and  Chester,  Vt. ;  in  Nashua,  N.  H. ;  in 
Malone,  N.  Y. ;  in  Montpelier  and  St.  Albans,  Vt.  ;  and 
in  Waterville,  Me.,  where  he  died  of  paralysis,  in  1879. 
He  was  for  a  time  associate  editor  of  the  "  Christian 
Repository,"  published  at  Montpelier,  Vt.  His  labors 
were  many  and  successful.  His  literary  accomplish- 
ments were  of  a  high  order,  and  he  was  a  faithful  and 
impressive  preacher.  At  the  last  of  life  he  was  confined 
to  his  bed  for  more  than  eleven  months,  helpless,  but 
in  quiet  resignation  to  the  Divine  will.  When  asked  if 
the  faith  with  which  he  had  comforted  others  was  suffi- 
cient for  himself  in  this  great  trial,  he  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  adding,  "  I  do  not  want  any  new  revelation  ; 
I  am  satisfied  with  what  we  now  have."  He  was  a 
frequent  contributor  to  the  denominational  and  secular 
papers,  wrote  many  articles  for  the  "  Universalist  Quar- 
terly,*' and  prepared  a  history  of  the  Masonic  lodge 
of  Waterville,  which  was  very  highly  appreciated  by 
the  members  of  that  order.  He  was  for  many  years  the 
accurate  and  able  editor  of  the  yearly  "  Universalist 
Register."  In  recognition  of  his  scholarly  attainments, 
Colby  University,  in  1872,  conferred  upon  him  the 
honorary  degree  of  A.  M. 

Nathaniel  Stacy,  born  in  New  Salem,  Franklin 
County,  Mass.,  came  to  manhood  at  the  close  of  the  last 
century,  and,  after  hard  toiling  in  early  life,  with  but 
small   educational   advantages,  he  concluded  from  sin- 


122  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

cere  convictions  of  duty  to  become  a  preacher  of  the 
faith  which  he  had  embraced  in  early  life.  He  was 
small  and  feeble  bodily,  but  of  sanguine  temperament 
and  great  firmness  and  persistence  of  will.  He  was 
encouraged  by  Rev.  Hosea  Ballon  to  leave  a  secular 
avocation  and  prepare  himself  for  the  ministry.  His 
first  sermon  was  preached  with  much  diffidence  on  his 
part,  but  he  was  encouraged  to  persevere  in  his  efforts, 
and  soon  came  to  be  a  very  acceptable  speaker  wherever 
he  appeared  as  an  advocate  of  his  faith.  He  itinerated 
much  in  Massachusetts  and  Vermont,  and  afterwards 
much  more  in  the  Middle  and  Western  States.  No 
preacher  of  the  Gospel  was  ever  more  engrossed  in  his 
work  than  he.  All  the  vicissitudes  of  an  itinerant's  life 
were  his  for  many  years.  Yet  his  ardor  never  waned, 
and  his  hopefulness  helped  him  to  meet  all  discourage- 
ments and  surmount  all  obstacles.  He  was  a  veritable 
Christian  apostle,  and  was  welcomed  everywhere  by 
young  and  old  wherever  he  came  as  a  messenger  to  the 
churches.  Many  remember  his  ministry  with  deepest  sat- 
isfaction, and  his  name  stands  high  in  the  church  as  one 
of  the  most  truthful  and  devoted  of  its  evangelists.  His 
autobiography  was  published  in  quite  a  large  volume, 
in  Columbus,  Pa.,  in  1850.  It  is  full  of  interesting 
incidents  and  apt  and  able  expositions  of  the  faith  of 
the  Gospel.  Mr.  Stacy  departed  this  life  at  Columbus, 
Pa.,  April  4,  1869. 

Rev.  Stephen  R.  Smith.  Of  this  eloquent  and 
honored  minister,  his  biographer,  Dr.  T.  J.  Sawyer, 
writes :  — 

"  Few  men  have  risen  to  a  higher  position  in  the  denomi- 
nation of  Universalists,  exerted  a  wider  influence,  or  wrought 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  123 

out  a  brighter  or  more  enviable  fame.  He  was  born  and  ed- 
ucated in  the  humblest  circumstances.  Being  early  led  by 
the  force  of  his  own  convictions  to  embrace  an  unpopular 
faith,  he  soon  found  himself  impelled  by  a  stern  sense  of  duty 
to  consecrate  his  life  to  its  promulgation  and  defence.  His 
health,  never  the  firmest,  was  soon  shattered  Iry  incessant 
application  to  study  and  the  hardships  endured  in  the  early 
planting  of  Universalism  in  Central  and  Western  New  York, 
so  that  a  large  part  of  his  life  was  spent  and  his  work  done 
under  this  great  disadvantage.  But  the  soul  that  burned 
within  him  was  superior  to  bodily  infirmity,  and  flashed  and 
blazed  forth  from  a  frame  so  attenuated  and  slender  that  even 
those  most  familiar  with  him  were  astonished  by  the  vigor  and 
sweep  of  his  transcendent  intellect,  the  youthful  play  of  his 
fauc}',  and  the  strokes  of  his  wit.  Nor  was  his  moral  charac- 
ter inferior  to  his  intellectual  endowments.  Seldom  does  one 
meet  with  a  warmer  heart  or  a  sterner  integrity  than  distin- 
guished him."  1 

His  pastorates  were  in  New  Hartford,  Clinton,  Al- 
bany, and  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  Philadelphia,  Pa.  He 
was  born  in  Albany,  in  1788,  and  died  in  Buffalo,  in 
1850,  aged  sixty-one.  It  was  truly  said  of  him  at  his 
death,  "But  one  individual  in  the  denomination  can 
expect  higher  or  more  heartfelt  tributes  of  love  and 
reverence."  His  eloquence  in  the  pulpit  was  often 
compared  with  that  of  Henry  Chi}'  in  the  halls  of  Con- 
gress. It  was  the  delight  of  the  writer  to  hear  him 
three  times  at  meetings  of  the  United  States  Convention, 
the  last  in  Boston  in  the  School  Street  Church,  from 
the  text,  "  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will 
draw  all  men  unto  me."     The  discourse   was  radiant 

1  Memoir  of  Rev.  Stephen  R.  Smith.  By  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Sawyer, 
D.  D.     Boston:  Published  by  Abel  Tompkins,  1852. 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  125 

"  I  have  been  thinking,  my  dear  sir,  about  your  doc- 
trine, and  it  seems  to  me,  even  if  it  is  true,  it  is  hardly 
expedient  to  preach  it,  for  all  men  will  finally  be  saved, 
whether  it  be  preached  or  not.  But  if  it  should  prove 
to  be  an  error,  the  consequences  of  believing  it  will  be 
terrible."  "  You  have  reasoned  erroneously,"  replied 
Mr.  Cobb,  "  from  having  assumed  that  my  doctrine 
exerts  not  so  good  a  moral  influence  as  yours.  Here  is 
your  mistake  :  you  believe  that  we  are  here  forming 
characters  for  eternity,  and  that  we  carry  with  us  into 
the  future  life  and  retain  there  the  moral  dispositions 
and  affections  which  we  cultivate  in  this  life.  Now  if 
this  doctrine  of  yours  proves  true,  I  shall  be  an  eternal 
gainer  from  the  faith  I  cherish  here,  because  it  produces 
supreme  love  to  God,  sweet  reconciliation  to  his  gov- 
ernment, and  a  cheerful,  happy  state  of  mind.  I  would 
greatly  prefer  to  bear  through  eternity  the  mind  and 
character  formed  by  my  religion,  than  such  as  yours 
must  naturally  produce.  Yet  I  am  not  expecting  the 
heaven  of  eternity  as  a  reward.  I  am  more  than  paid 
for  lovino-  and  serving"  God  here  ;  I  feel  that  I  am  God's 
poor  debtor  ;  and  I  trust  in  his  grace  forever."  "  I  was 
not  expecting  such  an  answer  as  that,"  was  the  sole 
reply  of  the  questioner. 

Mr.  C.  departed  this  life  in  East  Boston  in  December, 
1866. 

In  1827  Rev.  Menzies  Rayner  entered  the  Univer- 
salist  ministry  from  the  Episcopalian  church.  He  was 
born  at  South  Hempstead,  L.  I.,  Nov.  23,  1770.  His 
advantages  for  learning  were  principally  derived  from 
private  instruction.  He  showed  early  signs  of  superior 
abilities.     When  very  young  he  became  a  convert  to 


126  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Methodism,  and  before  the  age  of  twent}T-one  commenced 
preaching  as  an  itinerant.  He  was  ordained  at  Lynn, 
Mass.,  by  Bishop  Asbury.  He  continued  to  itinerate 
according  to  the  rules  of  the  Methodist  Church  for  more 
than  two  years,  when  he  received  and  accepted  an  invi- 
tation to  settle  with  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  Elizabethtown,  N.  J.,  where  lie  was  ordained  as  a 
minister  in  that  church  by  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Pro- 
vost of  New  York.  After  a  pastorate  of  six  years  in 
that  place,  he  accepted  a  call  to  the  rectorship  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  where  he  contin- 
ued ten  years.  He  next  removed  to  Huntington,  Conn., 
and  took  a  joint  rectorship  of  that  town  and  New  Hart- 
ford (now  Munroe).  He  remained  there  sixteen  years, 
when  from  close  and  prayerful  inquiry  and  study  of  the 
Scriptures  he  became  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Universal  Salvation.  He  asked  and  obtained 
an  honorable  dismissal  from  Bishop  Brownell  of  that 
diocese.  Through  all  his  subsequent  life  he  continued 
to  enjoy  the  respect  and  esteem  of  several  distinguished 
clergymen  of  that  church.  So  much  Bishop  Brownell 
pledged  to  him  at  the  time  of  his  withdrawal. 

Soon  after  becoming  known  as  a  Universalist,  he  was 
called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church  in  Hartford  left 
vacant  by  the  removal  of  Rev.  John  Bisbe  to  Portland, 
Me.  He  continued  in  Hartford  four  years,  when  lie  was 
earnestly  solicited  to  remove  to  Portland  and  take 
charge  of  the  society  there  left  without  a  pastor  by  the 
death  of  Mr.  Bisbe.  He  accepted  the  call,  and  remained 
there  four  years,  excepting  one  winter,  which  he  spent 
in  North  Carolina,  where,  and  in  intermediate  places, 
he  preached  the  Gospel.  Afterwards  he  had  pastor- 
ates in  Troy   and    Lansingburg,  N.  Y.,  and   preached 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  127 

in  Schenectady,  Fort  Ann,  Hartford,  and  other  places. 
For  a  year  and  a  half  he  ministered  to  the  Bleecker  St. 
Universalist  Society  in  New  York  city.  He  resided  in 
that  city  until  his  death,  which  occurred  Nov.  22,  1850. 
He  retained  his  mental  vigor  until  a  few  days  before  his 
departure  at  the  age  of  eighty. 

"  Father  Rayner,"  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  was  a 
remarkable  man.  His  mental  powers  were  of  a  high 
order,  his  social  qualities  made  him  always  attractive, 
his  wit  was  keen,  but  he  had  great  tenderness  and  depth 
of  feeling.  His  appearance  in  the  pulpit  was  venerable 
and  apostolic,  and  his  preaching  clear,  powerful,  and 
convincing.  He  gave  to  the  world  some  printed  works, 
which  exhibit  the  clear  and  logical  character  of  his 
mind.  While  at  Huntington,  he  published  a  review  of  a 
sermon  on  Regeneration,  by  Dr.  Taylor,  of  New  Haven, 
and  another  of  a  sermon  by  Dr.  Tyler,  of  Southbury,  on 
the  "  Perseverance  of  the  Saints."  This  was  replied  to 
by  Dr.  Tyler,  who  was  again  reviewed  in  a  pamphlet  of 
sixty  pages,  which  closed  the  controversy.  While  at 
Hartford,  he  edited  a  paper  called  the  "  Inquirer,"  and 
at  Portland  the  "  Christian  Pilot."  While  at  the  latter 
place,  he  delivered  "  Nine  Lectures  on  the  Parable  of 
the  Rich  Man  and  Lazarus."  He  also  published  a  re- 
view of  a  missionary  sermon  by  Dr.  Tyler,  and  a  sermon 
entitled  "  St.  Paul  a  Universalist." 

While  Mr.  Rayner  was  with  the  Episcopalians,  fre- 
quent theological  discussions  took  place  in  the  ministe- 
rial circles.  On  one  occasion,  among  other  questions 
considered,  Mr.  Rayner  proposed  this :  "  Has  every 
human  being  a  just  reason  to  be  thankful  for  the  gift  of 
existence  ?  "  He  cautioned  all  who  would  answer  it 
directly,  "  Yes  "  or  "  No,"  to  consider  very  carefully 


128  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

before  giving  the  answer,  because  of  one  other  question 
which  might  follow.  But  all  present  were  agreed  in 
the  decision  that  every  man  had  just  cause  for  thanksgiv- 
ing for  the  life  conferred  upon  him.  "  Now,"  said  Mr. 
Rayner,  "  answer  me  this  :  If  any  of  the  human  race  are 
to  be  doomed  to  unending  misery,  have  such  ones  any 
cause  for  such  thankfulness?  "  "  Why,  Brother  Rayner, 
you  are  a  Universalist,"  said  one  of  the  ministers. 
"  But  that  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  question,"  was 
the  response  ;  "  you  are  all  agreed,  I  see,  in  your  an- 
swer." 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  129 


CHAPTER   XII. 

sketches  of  ministers  —  continued. 

"  Go  forth,  all  hands !     God's  fallow  lands 
Need  ploughmen,  seedmen,  reapers  ! 
Plough  deep  and  long  ;  uproot  old  Wrong  ; 

Turn  Sin,  turn  Slaveries  under; 
Sow  Wisdom,  Lowliness,  Freedom,  Holiness, 
And  reap  in  joy  and  wonder ! " 

Rev.  D.  K.  Lee,  D.  D. 

73  EV.  THOMAS  F.  KING  was  a  minister  of  rare 
-*-^-  qualities.  He  came  up  from  the  humble  walks 
of  life,  and  by  hard  study  and  the  improvement  of  every 
opportunity  for  mental  culture,  became  a  scholar  of  ex- 
cellent acquirements.  He  was  an  enthusiastic  believer 
in  the  Gospel,  and  one  of  its  most  eloquent  preachers 
and  defenders.  He  was  especially  acquainted  with  the 
evidences  of  natural  and  revealed  religion,  and  well  pre- 
pared to  present  them  for  the  consideration  of  sceptical 
minds.  His  voice  was  rich,  deep,  and  musical,  and  as  a 
reader  he  could  hardly  be  excelled.  This,  aside  from 
their  intrinsic  merits,  made  his  discourses  strongly  im- 
pressive. An  instance  is  cited  of  a  disaffected  hearer 
who  had  concluded  not  to  attend  his  meetings  any  more, 
finding  himself  at  the  door  of  the  church  one  morning, 
after  the  service  had  opened,  in  expectation  of  hearing 
a  stranger  preach.  Mr.  King  was  there,  reading  the 
Scriptures,  —  the  invitation  in  Isaiah's  prophecies,  "Ho, 


130  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  }re  to  the  waters,"  &c. 
The  hearer  stood  still,  listened,  attempted  to  leave,  and 
was  held  fast.  Again  he  started,  but  the  words  reached 
him,  "  Incline  your  ear,  and  come  unto  me  ;  hear,  and 
your  soul  shall  live  !  "  Further  resistance  was  useless. 
His  place  in  the  sanctuary  was  taken  again,  and  held 
afterwards  while  lie  lived.  Mr.  King  had  a  large,  warm, 
sympathetic  heart,  and  made  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  his 
people  his  own.  He  was  the  life  of  the  social  circle,  and 
his  fund  of  anecdote  and  good  humor  usually  insured 
him  a  warm  reception  everywhere.  He  had  an  unusually 
rich  bass  voice  in  singing.  His  pulpit  services  were 
pervaded  with  a  profound  reverential  spirit.  He  was 
pastor  in  Hudson,  N.  Y.,  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  and  Charles- 
town,  Mass.,  in  which  last-named  place  he  departed'this 
life,  Sept.  13, 1839.    His  death  was  a  Christian's  triumph. 

Of  his  eminent  son,  Thomas  Starr  Kikg,  what  can 
we  say  that  most  readers  do  not  already  know  ?  and  yet 
the  man  and  his  life  will  always  bear  noting  and  will 
never  fail  to  be  admired.  He  was  born  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  Dec.  17,  1824.  He  early  manifested  singu- 
lar aptitude  for  study  and  deep  conscientiousness.  His 
education  was  desultory,  but  with  his  quickness  of  ap- 
prehension he  acquired  Latin  and  French  at  an  early 
age.  At  fifteen,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  he  became 
the  head  of  the  family,  and  worked  for  their  support  as 
a  clerk  and  school-teacher.  In  the  mean  time  he  was 
an  untiring  student  of  metaphysics  and  theology.  One 
of  his  historians,  Mr.  E.  P.  Whipple,  writes  of  him  :  — 

"  He  mastered  the  results  of  the  great  German  and  French 
critics  of  the  Bible.  To  many  of  our  present  young  students 
exegesis  practically  means  exit  Jesus  ;   but  King,  in  all  his 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  131 

eager  quest  of  truth,  and  dutiful  acknowledgment  of  the  ser- 
vice which  the  great  German  theologians  had  rendered  to  the 
rational  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  never  lost  his  original 
hold  on  Christ  Jesus  as  the  express  image  of  God,  —  as  the 
Son  who  reveals  to  us  the  Father,  —  as  the  ideal  embodiment 
of  a  perfected  Humanity.  Such  a  person  had  a  natural  call 
to  the  ministry." 

His  first  sermon  was  preached  in  Woburn,  in  the 
autumn  of  1845.  In  the  summer  of  the  next  year  he 
was  invited  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Universalist  Church 
in  Charlestown,  then  made  vacant  by  the  removal  of 
the  Rev.  E.  II.  Chapin  to  Boston.  He  accepted  the  call, 
and  enjoyed  a  bus}^  and  happy  ministry  there,  until  his 
urerent  call  to  become  the  minister  of  the  Hollis  Street 
(Unitarian)  Church  in  Boston.  The  first  invitation  he 
declined,  and  made  a  voyage  to  Fayal  to  recruit  his 
health  which  had  been  impaired  by  his  incessant  labors. 
The  invitation  was  renewed  on  his  return  home,  and  he 
was  installed  in  his  new  place  in  December,  1848.  This 
course  on  his  part  was  not  agreeable  to  many  of  his 
Universalist  friends,  but  they  had  no  doubt  that  it  was 
conscientiously  taken  by  him,  and  most  of  them  always 
retained  their  good  will  and  heart-fellowship  for  him. 
They  knew  that  his  work  would  be  mainly  in  the  right 
direction  always  ;  and  they  were  not  disappointed.  As 
a  public  literary  lecturer,  he  was  among  the  foremost  in 
the  land. 

In  April,  1860,  Mr.  King  took  charge  of  the  Unitarian 
Church  in  San  Francisco,  Cal.  He  saw  a  field  there 
which  he  deemed  it  an  opportunity  to  occupy,  both  as  a 
Christian  minister  and  an  American  patriot.  He  entered 
with  his  whole  soul  into  the  defence  of  the  national 
cause  and   in  opposition  to  the  traitorous  intent  of  the 


132  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

secession  conspirators.  In  the  pulpit  and  on  the  plat- 
form lie  vindicated  the  national  honor  and  pleaded  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  national  Union.  As  his  biographer, 
Mr.  Whipple,  writes  :  "  As  far  as  regards  the  keeping 
of  California  loyal  to  the  Union  during  the  civil  war,  he 
ranks  at  least  in  the  first  file  of  its  eminent  citizens. 
His  reputation  was  not  confined  to  the  Pacific  coast,  but 
extended  over  the  whole  country."  1  He  literally  wore 
out  his  life  in  this  great  and  glorious  field  of  exertion. 
Diphtheria  came  finally,  and  he  passed  into  the  higher 
life,  March  4,  1865.  His  words  at  the  last  were  :  "  I 
feel  all  the  privileges  and  greatness  of  the  future." 

One  of  our  ablest  theologians  and  most  devoted  min- 
isters was  Rev.  Abel  Charles  Thomas,  born  in  Exe- 
ter, Berks  Co.,  Pa.,  July  11,  1807.  He  was  of  Quaker 
lineage,  his  grandfather  Abel  having  been  a  distin- 
guished preacher  of  the  Society  of  Friends  during  fifty- 
six  years.  It  was  of  Rev.  A.  B.  Grosh,  then  of  Marietta, 
Pa.,  that  he  received  his  first  knowledge  of  Universalism. 
In  1827  he  went  to  Philadelphia  as  a  printer,  and  was 
there  encouraged  by  resident  ministers,  Rev.  S.  R.  Smith, 
and  Rev.  T.  Fisk,  to  enter  the  ministry.  He  preached 
his  first  sermon  in  the  Lombard  St.  Church  in  Novem- 
ber, 1828.  In  the  following  January  he  became  pub- 
lisher and  co-editor  with  Mr.  Fisk  of  the  "  Gospel 
Herald  and  Universalist  Review  "  in  New  York  city, 
writing  editorials,  putting  them  in  type,  conducting  the 

1  The  mother  of  Mr.  King  was  a  woman  of  keen  intellect  and  of  many 
virtues,  and  her  talented  son  held  her  in  highest  esteem.  As  his  popu- 
larity in  California  was  increasing,  there  was  a  serious  talk  at  one  time 
of  sending  him  as  senator  to  Congress.  The  mother,  hearing  of  this, 
wrote  in  a  letter  to  her  son  :  "  Be  on  your  guard.  Don't  let  Satan  take 
you  to  the  top  of  Mt.  Shasta,  and  show  you  Washington!  " 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  133 

correspondence,  and  as  he  says,  "  writing  his  sermons  on 
a  pine  board  by  night,"  for  he  had  begun  his  ministerial 
labors  April  5,  1829,  preaching  in  a  small  frame  meet- 
ing-house on  Grand  St.  In  less  than  a  year  from  the 
delivery  of  his  first  sermon,  he  responded  to  a  cordial 
invitation  to  become  pastor  of  the  Lombard  St.  Church, 
Philadelphia,  which  connection  continued  with  mutual 
interest  of  pastor  and  people  for  ten  years.  In  1834 
and  1835  a  discussion  took  place  between  Mr.  Thomas 
and  Rev.  Ezra  Stiles  Ely,  D.  D.,  which  was  afterwards 
issued  in  book  form,  and  has  probably  been  more  widely 
circulated  and  had  a  more  permanent  interest  and  use- 
fulness than  any  other  theological  discussion  in  our 
country.  It  gave  to  Mr.  Thomas  a  fame  which  will 
always  be  connected  with  his  memory.  Visiting  New 
England  after  the  discussion  had  closed,  he  received  a 
most  cordial  and  enthusiastic  welcome,  and  preached  in 
many  places  to  large  and  deeply  interested  congrega- 
tions. 

Mr.  Thomas  removed  to  Lowell  in  the  autumn  of 
1839,  and  took  charge  of  the  Second  Church.  Here  he 
and  his  co-laborer,  Rev.  T.  B.  Thayer,  started  the  "  Star 
of  Bethlehem,"  a  vigorous  weekly  publication  in  support 
of  the  Universalist  faith.  While  living  here,  he  estab- 
lished the  "  Lowell  Offering,"  a  new  movement  for  that 
time,  and  which  elicited  much  interest  in  this  country 
and  in  England.  After  three  years'  active  and  efficient 
work  in  Lowell,  and  after  a  few  months'  travel  for  his 
health,  he  went  to  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  where  he  organized 
a  society  and  was  one  of  eight  men  who  built  the  first 
Universalist  church  in  that  city.  From  Brooklyn  he 
went  to  Cincinnati,  O.,  in  1844  ;  but  declining  health 
and  overwork  obliged  him  to  resign  his  charge  in  1847. 


134  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

After  a  year's  rest  he  returned  to  his  old  parish  in  Phil- 
adelphia. Twelve  years  later  he  was  induced  to  go  out 
as  a  missionary  of  Universalism  to  England  and  Scot- 
land ;  the  required  funds  were  promptly  raised,  and 
accompanied  by  his  family,  in  May,  1852,  he  sailed  for 
England.  His  time  was  spent  chiefly  in  London  and 
Edinburgh,  though  he  preached  in  all  the  principal  cities 
of  the  United  Kingdom,  and  made  careful  investigation 
of  the  religious  aspect  of  affairs  there.  At  the  close  of 
a  year's  labor  he  was  joined  in  London  b}r  his  co-worker 
in  Lowell,  Rev.  T.  B.  Thayer,  and  wife,  and  for  six 
months  they  travelled  together  on  the  Continent.  He 
then  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and  resumed  his  labor 
there. 

During  the  late  war,  with  its  manifold  excitements 
and  fatigues,  the  visiting  and  caring  for  the  sick  and 
wounded  in  the  hospitals,  and  his  active  interest  in  as- 
sisting the  soldiers  constantly  passing  to  and  fro,  made 
serious  inroads  on  his  long-enfeebled  frame,  so  that  he 
was  obliged  to  resign  his  charge  in  1863.  He  removed 
to  Hightstown,  N.  J.,  where  he  preached  two  years,  one 
sermon  a  Sunday,  as  a  labor  of  love.  He  then  spent 
two  years  in  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  preaching  in  Danbury 
and  other  places  as  his  strength  permitted.  In  the 
spring  of  1807  he  purchased  a  farm  at  Tacony,  Philadel- 
phia, which  was  thenceforth  his  home. 

Mr.  Thomas  was  the  author  of  several  volumes  be- 
sides the  "  Ely  and  Thomas  Discussion  ;  "  his  "  Auto- 
biography," "The  Gospel  Liturgy,"  "The  Songs  of 
"  Zion,"  "  A  Century  of  Universalism,"  &c.  He  wrote 
also  some  very  useful  and  popular  tracts, — among  them 
"213  Questions  without  Answers,"  which  has  had  a 
wider  reading  and  attracted  more  attention  than  any 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  135 

other  tract  ever  issued  from  our  press.  It  has  had  a 
circulation  of  at  least  a  million  copies.  The  questions 
are  strong,  awakening,  and  searching. 

Rev.  T.  B.  Thayer,  D.  D.,  makes  this  brief  but  truth- 
ful statement  of  the  character  of  Mr.  Thomas  :  — 

"As  a  teacher,  he  was  a  man  of  wonderful  gifts.  His 
sermons  were  largely  doctrinal,  expositoiy,  and  defensive,  as 
the  position  of  our  church  at  the  time  he  began  preaching 
demanded.  He  was  clear,  terse  and  logical,  and  original  in 
the  statement  and  discussion  of  his  subject,  with  just  enough 
of  quaint  Quaker  phrase  to  give  it  spice,  yet  alive  with  the 
beauty  and  the  glow  of  the  poet's  vision  and  illustration  ;  and 
sometimes,  when  a  sudden  burst  of  feeling  and  inspiration 
came  upon  him,  he  rose  to  the  highest  demands  of  oratory, 
his  eloquence  became  electric,  and,  like  a  full-charged  battery, 
thrilled  the  entire  congregation,  until  every  heart  beat  with 
the  pulses  of  his  own  faith  and  fervor.  As  a  controversialist, 
he  had  few  equals.  His  discussion  with  Dr.  Ely,  as  an  exhibi- 
tion of  the  Universalist  argument,  was,  and  still  is,  the  best 
and  most  persuasive  work  of  the  kind  in  our  denominational 
history,  and  admirably  displays  the  skill,  logic,  fairness  and 
manly  courtesy  of  Mr.  Thomas  as  a  debater.  As  a  Christian 
gentleman,  he  was  distinguished  for  the  grace  and  courtesy  of 
his  manners,  for  his  thoughtful  kindness  towards  all,  for  his 
remarkable  conversational  gifts,  and  for  the  personal  mag- 
netism by  which  he  attracted  to  himself  all  with  whom  he 
came  in  contact,  3'oung  and  old,  strangers  and  friends  alike.'' 

For  the  last  three  years  of  his  life  he  was  confined  to 
his  home,  and  quietly  passed  on  in  full  assurance  of  the 
immortal  life,  Sept.  27,  1880.  Mr.  Thomas  was  married 
Feb.  14,  1843,  to  Miss  M.  Louise  Palmer,  of  Pottsville, 
Pa.,  who  survives  him,  and  is  one  of  the  active  and  effi- 
cient "  womei)  workers  "  of  our  church. 


136  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Contemporary  with  Mr.  Thomas  during  his  ministry 
in  Philadelphia  was  Rev.  Savillion  W.  Fuller,  who 
became  pastor  of  the  Callowhill  Street  Universalist 
Church  in  that  city  in  1833.  We  are  indebted  to  Mr. 
Thomas,  who,  in  his  "  Autobiography,"  has  given  us  a 
truthful  though  brief  account  of  the  worthy  man  :  — 

"  His  mind  was  comprehensive.  His  power  of  analysis 
was  displayed  alike  in  sermonizing  and  conversation.  His 
perception  was  quick,  his  reflection  rigid,  and  his  stern  con- 
science denounced  what  logic  condemned.  As  a  public 
speaker  he  was  unequal.  Sometimes  he  was  tame,  at  others 
mightily  stirring  by  forcible  thought  embodied  in  unusually 
glowing  language.  The  average  placed  him  in  a  high  rank 
among  the  eloquent  men  of  the  age.  In  every  respect  of 
social  nobility  I  never  knew  his  superior. 

'  He  bore  through  suffering,  toil,  and  ruth, 
Within  his  heart  tlie  dew  of  youth, 
And  on  his  lip  the  smile  of  truth.' 

He  carried  sunshine  into  all  circles  of  the  young  and  the 
old,  the  literary  and  the  religious.  Even  the  house  of  mourn- 
ing seemed  radiant  in  his  visitations  of  loving  trust.  His 
keen  wit  was  without  asperity,  and  his  ardent  zeal  was  uni- 
forml}-  tempered  by  charity.  His  beaming  face  was  a  true 
index  of  the  inner  man." 

He  united  with  Mr.  Thomas  in  a  letter  to  four  distin- 
guished clergymen  of  Philadelphia,  inviting  them  to 
lecture  in  the  Universalist  churches  in  that  city  on 
points  of  doctrinal  difference  between  the  parties.  The 
result  of  the  invitation  was,  finally,  the  Ely  and  Thomas 
discussion. 

An  instance  in  illustration  of  Mr.  Fuller's  aptness  in 
emergencies  is  given  in  the  "  Companion  and  Register  " 
of  1858.     Entering  the  stage-coach  for  Utica  one  day, 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  137 

he  found  it  full  of  passengers,  among  whom  was  a  some- 
what noted  "revivalist"  of  that  time,  and  his  friend,  a 
deacon.  Mr.  Fuller  soon  became  disgusted  with  the 
coarse,  brow-beating  dogmatism  of  the  revivalist  toward 
the  unassuming  passengers,  and  took  up  the  argument 
against  him.  Enraged  at  being  foiled  in  controversy 
and  overmatched  in  wit,  the  elder  poured  out  a  torrent 
of  abusive  language,  when  Mr.  Fuller  arrested  his  vulgar 
tirade  by  saying  in  a  dignified  and  authoritative  tone, 
"  Stop,  sir  !  Not  another  word  from  your  lips  !  Why, 
sir,  you  are  making  a  mere  blackguard  of  yourself.  Not 
another  word,  sir  !  "  (arresting  the  reply  before  it  could 
be  commenced).  "Not  another  word,  I  tell  you! 
Why,  you  have  already  disgraced  yourself  and  your  pro- 
fession, and,  if  allowed  to  continue,  would  disgrace  the 
company  you  are  in  and  the  very  horses  that  draw  you 
along  !  "  The  mortified  man  shrunk  into  his  corner, 
cowed  by  an  imperiousness  as  much  excelling  his  own 
in  energy  and  power  as  it  towered  above  him  in  dignity 
and  truth. 

But  his  deacon  was  determined  not  to  be  put  down 
thus,  and  spoke  up  with  much  spirit,  "  Sir,  this  is  a  free 
country,  and  others  have  a  right  to  speak  as  well  as 
yourself."  "  Most  certainly,  my  dear  sir,"  said  Mr. 
Fuller,  with  one  of  his  beaming  looks  and  in  his  bland- 
est tones,  "  most  certainly,  sir  ;  and  I  hope  you  will 
exercise  your  right."  "  Yes,  sir  ;  and  I  mean  to  exercise 
it,  sir  ;  I  '11  let  you  know,  sir,  that  I  shall  speak  as  much 
as  I  please,  sir,"  said  the  now  enraged  deacon.  "  That 's 
right,"  replied  the  very  courteous  Fuller,  "  speak  on, 
my  dear  sir  ;  we  wish  to  hear  you  speak."  "  Yes,  sir," 
continued  the  choking  deacon,  "  and  I  '11  let  you  know 
that  you  can't  shut  my  mouth,  sir."     "  Oh,  no,  sir,  — . 


138  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Heaven  forbid  fliat  I  should  attempt  it  —  I  want  you  to 
speak  —  so,  speak  on,  sir  —  we  like  to  hear  you."  "  Yes, 
sir,  and  I  won't  ask  your  permission,  neither  !  I  '11  let 
you  know,  sir,  that  you  are  not  my  keeper,  sir  !  "  said 
the  deacon,  now  almost  bursting  with  rage.  "  Certainly 
not,  sir,"  was  the  very  quiet  but  smiling  reply,  "  cer- 
tainly not,  sir,  —  I  am  a  pastor,  not  a  keeper  of  swine." 
A  prolonged,  hearty  laugh  from  the  passengers  finally 
died  away,  and  "  there  was  a  great  calm."  The  deacon 
reclined  in  sullen  silence,  and  the  remainder  of  the  jour- 
ney was  enlivened  by  pleasant  and  profitable  conversa- 
tion between  Mr.  Fuller  and  the  other  passengers. 

Rev.  William  Allen  Drew,  most  of  whose  life  was 
passed  in  Maine,  was  born  in  Kingston,  Mass.,  Dec.  11, 
1798.  He  fitted  for  college  in  early  life,  but  adverse 
circumstances  compelled  him  to  abandon  his  studies  and 
go  to  Bath,  Me.,  in  1813,  where  he  was  employed  as  a 
clerk  for  two  years.  He  then  spent  four  years  at  work 
on  a  farm  in  Hallo  well.  In  1819  he  accepted  an  invita- 
tion to  take  charge  of  Farmington  Academy,  and  re- 
mained in  that  position  five  years.  He  preached  his 
first  sermon  in  Farmington,  Oct.  1,  1821,  and  was  fel- 
lowshipped  the  same  year.  He  remained  in  Farmington 
as  teacher  and  preacher  until  1824,  when  he  began 
preaching  in  Belfast,  and  removed  there  Jan.  1,  1825. 
He  remained  there  two  years,  preaching  also  in  Camden, 
in  Thomaston,  and  in  other  towns  in  the  vicinity.  In 
December,  1825,  he  began  the  publication  of  a  religious 
paper  called  "  The  Christian  Visitant,"  which  was  after- 
wards merged  in  "  The  Christian  Intelligencer,"  pub- 
lished at  Portland  by  Rev.  Russell  Streeter,  and  Mr. 
Drew  was  associated  with  him  in  the  editorial  work. 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  139 

In  January,  1827,  he  removed  to  Augusta,  in  which  place 
he  had  his  home  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  The 
"Intelligencer"  was  removed  to  Gardiner  at  the  same 
time,  and  he  became  its  sole  editor.  From  1831  to  1833 
he  published  "  The  Christian  Preacher,"  a  monthly 
journal  of  sermons.  He  established  the  "  Gospel  Ban- 
ner" in  1835,  and  edited  it  with  marked  ability  until 
1857.  After  his  connection  ceased  with  the  "  Banner," 
he  was  editor  of  the  "  Rural  Intelligencer  "  for  a  few 
years,  and  was  at  different  times  connected  with  the 
"  Maine  Cultivator,"  the  "  Augusta  Courier,"  and  per- 
haps some  other  papers.  He  was  a  contributor  to  the 
"  Gospel  Banner  "  even  after  the  burden  of  years  and 
infirmities  pressed  heavily  upon  him.  He  was  eminently 
fitted  for  the  editorship  of  a  public  journal. 

Mr.  Drew  organized  the  First  Universalist  Church  in 
Augusta  in  1833.  He  was  ordained  its  pastor  when  the 
meeting-house  was  dedicated,  Nov.  26,  1835,  preached 
to  it  constantly,  and  performed  pastoral  labors  until 
1848.  Rev.  Dr.  Quinby,  who  published  a  biographical 
sketch  of  him  after  his  decease,  writes  :  — 

"  As  a  writer  and  editor  he  had  few  equals.  His  pen  was 
ever  ready,  he  never  tired.  Many  of  his  productions  bore 
the  marks  of  great  research  and  deep  thought,  though  evi- 
dently written  in  the  midst  of  a  pressure  of  other  occupations. 
His  theology  was  plain  and  straightforward.  All  could  un- 
derstand him.  His  descriptions  of  scenes  and  places  were 
vivid,  natural,  and  generally  true  to  the  life.  He  had  many 
admirers  as  a  controversialist.  Possessing  a  wide  range  of 
thought,  good  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  a  well-balanced  and 
discerning  intellect,  a  ready  wit,  and  naturally  exceedingly 
sarcastic,  he  was  a  stalwart  defender  of  Universalism  in 
Maine,  and  proved  himself  competent  to  any  emergency." 


140  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

Rev.  Isaac  Dowd  Williamson  was  one  of  the  ablest 
advocates  of  the  Universalis  faith.  He  was  born  in 
Pomfret,  Vt.,  April  4,  1807,  and  died  in  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  Nov.  26,  1876.  In  early  life  he  learned  the 
clothier's  trade,  and  had  no  other  schooling  than  that  of 
the  common  district  school  ;  but  his  ardent  thirst  for 
knowledge,  his  force  of  character  and  enthusiasm  made 
amends  for  lack  of  external  aid.  He  was  troubled  with 
many  doubts  in  his  thoughts  about  religion  until,  at 
about  the  age  of  fifteen,  Ballou's  "  Treatise  on  the 
Atonement"  was  put  into  his  hands.  He  read  it  with 
avidity,  and  was  greatly  enlightened  and  encouraged. 
He  had  hitherto  thought  that  all  sorrow  and  suffering 
were  inflicted  by  God  in  anger  upon  his  children  for 
their  sins.  The  first  sermon  from  a  Universalist  to 
which  he  listened  was  delivered  by  Rev.  Kittredge 
Haven,  from  the  text,  "  Whom  the  Lord  loveth,  he 
chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son  whom  he  re- 
ceiveth  "  (  Heb.  xii.  6).  It  lifted  him  out  of  his  doubts 
and  sent  him  away  rejoicing.  He  went  into  a  solitary 
place  and  wept  for  joy,  and  upon  his  knees  vowed  that 
if  God  would  spare  his  life,  and  he  could  ever  be  quali- 
fied, he  would  enter  upon  the  work  of  the  ministry,  a 
purpose  which  he  followed  out  most  faithfully.  He 
preached  his  first  sermon  Oct.  1, 1827,  in  Springfield,  Vt. 
After  supplying  the  pulpit  a  short  time  in  Langdon, 
N.H.,  he  settled  in  1828  in  Jaffrey,  N.  H.,  and  was  or- 
dained by  the  Franklin  Association,  at  Townsend,  Vt. 
Sept.  10,  1829.  In  June  of  the  same  year  he  removed 
to  Albany,  N.  Y.,  where  he  lived  seven  years.  From 
1837  to  1851  he  resided  as  pastor  in  Poughkeepsie  a 
year  and  a  half,  in  Baltimore  two  years,  in  New  York 
city  three,  in  Philadelphia  three,  in  Mobile  two  winters, 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  141 

in  Memphis,  Ky.,  in  Lowell,  Mass.,  one  year.  From 
Lowell  be  removed  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  remaining  there 
two  years,  from  there  to  Philadelphia,  where  lie  spent 
three  years,  which  was  his  last  regular  pastorate,  al- 
though he  supplied  in  Cincinnati  after  his  return  from 
Philadelphia.  He  was  with  Rev.  C.  F.  Lefevre,  editor 
of  the  "  Gospel  Anchor  "  at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  about  1880,  a 
paper  afterwards  merged  in  the  "  Religious  Inquirer, " 
published  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  Mr.  Williamson  continu- 
ing to  edit  it.  He  was  one  of  the  editors  of  the  "  Herald 
and  Era,"  published  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  was  for 
about  ten  years  connected  with  the  "  Star  in  the  West " 
as  joint  proprietor  and  editor,  though  for  several  of  his 
last  years  performing  no  editorial  labor. 

Dr.  Williamson,  through  most  of  his  life,  was  afflicted 
with  asthma  in  its  severest  form,  but  his  vigorous  will 
enabled  him,  in  spite  of  it,  to  perform  much  labor.  He 
delivered  nearly  4,000  sermons,  published  nine  volumes, 
beside  many  pamphlets,  and  for  forty  years  was  con- 
nected with  our  periodicals.  He  once  crossed  the  At- 
lantic, and  preached  the  Gospel  of  Impartial  Grace  in 
Great  Britain.  He  took  seven  voyages  of  2,000-  miles 
coastwise  by  sea  on  the  same  errand.  In  his  voyage  to 
Europe,  one  of  his  fellow  passengers  was  Washington 
Irving,  then  on  his  way  to  Spain.  Mr.  Williamson 
conducted  the  religious  services  on  board  the  vessel,  one 
Sunday  morning,  discoursing  on  the  Paternal  character, 
purposes  and  requirements  of  God,  in  accordance  with 
Christian  Universalism.  After  the  service,  Mr.  Irving, 
who  had  been  an  attentive  listener,  cordially  thanked 
the  preacher  for  his  sermon,  adding  emphatically, 
"  These,  sir,  are  my  viewsr  and  I  am  trying  to  live  in 
agreement  with  them." 


142  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Mr.  Williamson  was  a  prominent  and  highly  respected 
member  of  the  Society  of  Odd  Fellows,  lectured  far 
and  wide  in  exposition  and  defence  of  their  principles, 
and  went  to  England  mainly  in  their  service.  He  was 
for  many  years  Grand  Chaplain  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  ritual  now  in  use  by  the  Or- 
der was  largely  from  his  pen.  He  received  the  honor- 
ary degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Norwich,  Vt., 
University,  in  1850.  The  writer  of  this  sketch  first 
heard  Dr.  Williamson  preach  at  the  session  of  the  Uni- 
versalist  General  Convention  held  in  Strafford,  Vt.,  in 
1832.  The  subject  was  "  Lukewarmness  rebuked  ; " 
the  text,  Rev.  iii.  15:  "I  would  thou  wertcold  or  hot. " 
No  noisy,  declamatory  appeal  was  it,  no  clap-trap  ef- 
fort reminding  the  audience  of  the  "  smartness  "  of  the 
one  to  whom  they  are  listening  ;  but  a  clear,  strong,  ear- 
nest statement  of  the  greatness  of  the  Truth  of  God 
and  of  its  pre-eminent  claims  upon  the  attention,  love, 
and  consecrated  zeal  of  every  believer  in  its  unsearch- 
able riches.  In  illustration  (not  profuse),  in  persua- 
siveness and  application,  it  could  not  have  been 
improved.  The  large  old  church  was  filled,  the  audi- 
ence were  in  closest  attention  to  the  end,  and  many 
were  the  silent,  sympathetic  "aniens"  in  response  when 
his  words  were  ended.  The  discourse  afterwards  ap- 
peared in  the  "  Gospel  Preacher,"  a  monthly  publica- 
tion issued  at  Augusta,  Me. 

The  "  Rudiments  of  Theological  and  Moral  Science  " 
may  be  considered  the  summing  up  of  Mr.  Williamson's 
theological  thinking  during  his  ministry.  It  is  a  nota- 
ble vindication  of  the  Divine  Sovereignty,  a  sovereignty 
infinitely  glorified  in  the  Divine  Paternity.  Although 
some  of  its  reasonings  savor  too  much  of  what  is  called 


SKETCHES    OF  MINISTERS.  143 

fatalism  to  be  accepted  as  practically  healthful  when 
men  are  called  upon  to  "  work  out  their  own  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling,"  it  is  in  the  highest  degree 
helpful  and  hopeful  to  all  of  weak  faith  who  need  to 
realize  that  God  has  will  and  purpose  of  his  own,  and 
works  within  his  children  "  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  own 
good  pleasure."  God's  beneficent  sovereignty  was  to 
him  the  adamantine  foundation  of  the  Gospel.  As 
strong  and  effective  by  voice  and  pen  as  the  ministry  of 
this  good  man  has  been,  there  were  those  at  the  begin- 
ning of  it  who  were  inclined  to  wonder  at  his  attempt 
to  enter  this  profession.  Light-minded  critics  uttered 
their  innocent  witticisms,  and  sober  well-wishers  of  our 
denomination  very  plainly  hinted  to  him  that  he  might 
possibly  do  quite  as  much  service  to  it  in  some  other 
line  of  effort  than  that  of  preaching !  But  all  this  to 
the  pure-minded  young  soldier  of  the  Cross  was  but  an 
incentive  to  renewed  exertion.  They  who  doubted 
knew  not  that  the  Lord  had  called  him,  and  had  pur- 
posed for  him  a  life  of  honorable  labor  in  his  holy  ser- 
vice. Father  Ballou  used  to  say,  "When  the  Lord 
undertakes  to  make  a  minister,  he  always  makes  a  good 
one."  Dr.  Williamson  was  thus  made.  He  has  given 
"  full  proof  "  of  his  ministry,  and  now  having  gone  "  up 
higher,"  his  works  will  follow  him. 

One  of  the  ministers  of  a  long  pastorate  in  Vermont 
was  Rev.  Kittredge  Haven.  He  was  of  a  family  of 
nine  sons  and  two  daughters,  and  was  born  in  Framing- 
ham,  Mass.,  Feb.  24,  1793,  and  died  in  Shoreham,  Vt., 
May  4,  1877,  aged  84.  His  father  removed  in  1802  to 
Cambridge,  and  in  1810  to  Boston,  where  he  established 
himself  in  a  crockery  store.     The  subject  of  this  notice 


144  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

was  providentially  drawn  to  attend  the  ministry  of  Rev. 
Paul  Dean,  under  whose  preaching  he  was  converted  to 
Universalism,  sang-  in  his  choir  at  his  installation  as  col- 
league with  Rev.  John  Murray  in  1813,  studied  for  the 
ministry  with  Mr.  Dean,  and  in  his  pulpit  preached  his 
first  sermon  in  July,  1819.  In  the  spring  of  1820  Mr. 
Haven  made  a  preaching  tour  into  Maine,  spending  one 
Sabbath  in  each  of  the  towns  of  Waterville,  Brunswick, 
Livermore,  Winthrop  and  Turner,  and  in  Portland 
three  Sundays.  After  returning  to  Boston  he  received 
a  letter  from  Turner,  inviting  him  to  become  a  pastor 
there,  but  he  declined  the  call.  Soon  afterwards  he 
took  a  journey  into  Vermont,  and  in  Dec.  1820  settled  in 
Bethel,  on  a  salary  of  $5  per  Sunday,  which  was  the 
customary  pay  of  a  young  preacher  in  those  days.  He 
was  ordained  at  Kingsbury,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  14,  1821,  by  the 
Northern  Association,  embracing  Vermont,  a  part  of 
Canada,  and  all  that  part  of  New  York  which  bordered 
on  Lake  Champlain.  Two  ministers  only  besides  him- 
self were  present  on  that  occasion,  Rev.  S.  C.  Loveland 
and  Rev.  Robert  Bartlett.  In  1829  Mr.  Haven  moved 
to  Shoreham,  and  there  he  remained  until  death, 
preaching  there  regularly  thirty-seven  years,  and  occa- 
sionally, every  year,  from  Jan.  1,  1825,  to  Jan.  1,  1870, 
—  in  all  forty -five  years. 

Mr.  Haven  was  an  earnest  and  effective  preacher. 
He  was  not  especially  noted  for  learning  or  eloquence, 
but  was  a  plain,  vigorous,  and  scriptural  advocate  of 
the  Gospel.  His  preaching  was  a  continuous  stream 
of  truth  flowing  forth  in  a  strong  and  fervent  delivery 
from  the  beginning  to  the  close  of  his  discourse.  He 
possessed  excellent  judgment,  sterling  integrity,  an 
amiable  and  Christian  spirit,  and  unostentatious  piety. 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  145 

He  won  and  secured  the  respect  of  all  men  by  his 
kindness  of  heart,  his  gentlemanly  manners,  and  pure 
life.  He  made  Universalism  respected  wherever  he  was 
known.  Congregational  ministers  even  called  him  evan- 
gelical. He  left  an  honored  name  to  his  children  and 
to  the  church  which  he  had  faithfully  served  for  fifty 
years.  He  was  uncle  of  the  late  Bishop  Gilbert  Haven 
of  the  M.  E.  Church. 

The  ministry  of  Rev.  John  Boyden  was  one  of  the 
most  useful  and  honored  of  any  in  our  churches.  He 
was  born  in  Sturbridge,  Mass.,  May  14,  1809,  and  died 
in  Woonsocket,  R.  I.,  Sept.  28,  1869.  He  attended  the 
public  schools  in  his  native  town  during  his  youth,  and 
engaged  in  teaching  schools  winters  before  he  reached 
his  twentieth  year.  In  1829  he  resolved  to  enter  upon 
the  calling  to  which  he  had  for  some  time  felt  drawn, 
and  began  his  studies  for  the  Christian  ministry  under 
the  direction  of  the  elder  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou.  His  first 
sermon  was  preached  in  Annisquam,  near  Gloucester, 
Mass.  In  the  following  year  (1830),  he  was  ordained 
at  Berlin,  Conn.  It  was  his  first  settlement,  and  he 
remained  there  four  years.  He  next  located  at  Dudley, 
Mass.,  where  he  continued  as  pastor  until  1840,  when  he 
removed  to  Woonsocket,  where  lie  had  before, preached 
occasionally,  and  became  the  first  pastor  of  the  new 
society  in  that  place,  which  had  just  erected  a  church. 
His  pastorate  here  reached  nearly  the  limit  of  thirty 
years. 

As  a  preacher,  he  was  plain,  sound,  and  forcible.  He 
never  attempted  great  things  in  the  way  of  sensational 
effort.  He  had  too  much  good  sense,  and  too  refined 
notions  of  propriety  to  do  that.     His  eloquence  was  in 

10 


146  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

the  sincerity,  truthfulness,  and  earnestness  of  his  state- 
ments and  appeals.  He  was  a  clear  and  strong  reasoner, 
and  had  always  good  illustrations  of  his  subject  at  hand. 
Incidents  from  his  own  experience  were  often  made 
most  timely  and  impressive  in  his  discourses.  He  was 
pointedly  doctrinal  and  thoroughly  practical  in  his  ser- 
mons, generally  using  great  simplicity  and  plainness  of 
speech,  but  always  giving  evidence  of  a  deep  heart  in- 
terest in  the  message  he  was  delivering. 

As  a  minister  of  Christian  consolation  he  seemed  pre- 
eminent. In  this  respect  no  preacher  perhaps  was  more 
acceptable  to  our  people.  His  calls  to  attend  funerals, 
sometimes  at  long  distances  out  of  his  own  parish,  were 
many.  Old  friends,  who  had  long  known  him,  when 
bereaved  and  afflicted  were  thankful  to  hear  his  voice 
speaking  to  them  the  comforting  words  of  divine  truth. 

He  was  a  true  Christian  reformer.  All  through  his 
ministry  this  had  been  his  character.  Clear  in  his  per- 
ceptions, sound  in  his  judgments,  consistent  in  his  posi- 
tions, and  with  an  adamantine  firmness  in  his  adherence 
to  principle,  he  was  always  ready  to  give  his  word  and 
influence  in  aid  of  the  reforms  of  the  times.  As  an  ad- 
vocate of  temperance  and  human  freedom,  he  was  sur- 
passed by  none  in  his  faithfulness. 

How  his  own  people  loved  him  !  and  how  long  and 
closely  and  happily  were  they  united  !  That  silver  wed- 
ding celebration  of  the  pastoral  union  in  1864  ;  what  evi- 
dence it  gave  of  that  unity  of  the  spirit  which  can  bind 
a  good  pastor  and  an  appreciative  people  for  so  long  a 
time  with  interest  deepening  as  years  increase,  and  which 
is  such  a  reproof  of  the  many  injudicious  calls  and 
frequent  resignations  which  afflict  too  many  churches ! 
What  a  golden  halo  is  set  around  this  long  settlement  of 
the  faithful  pastor  and  his  loving  people. 


Qsifiiu,  <y(/L 


C~ir7~-e-^. 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  147 

Rev.  John  Moore  was  another  of  the  worthy  and 
beloved  of  this  ministerial  company.  He  was  born  in 
Strafford,  Vt.,  Feb.  5,  1797,  and  was  early  nurtured  in 
the  Puritanic  theology  of  New  England.  Soon  after  he 
had  passed  out  of  his  teens  he  became  acquainted  with 
the  faith  of  the  Universalist  church.  It  answered  to 
the  true  call  of  the  manliness  that  was  in  him,  and  soon 
became  an  inspiration  to  his  spiritual  powers.  He  grew 
in  its  light,  and  his  soul  expanded  in  its  genial  atmo- 
sphere. Reading,  meditation,  and  the  culture  of  his 
mental  powers  soon  opened  the  way  for  him  into  the 
ministry,  the  work  of  which  he  entered  upon  with 
hesitancy,  not  from  lack  of  zeal  in  its  interest,  but  from 
modesty  as  to  his  qualifications  for  the  great  calling. 
The  counsellings  of  friends  encouraged  him,  and  his  first 
messages  were  received  with  favor,  and  he  became  one 
of  the  most  acceptable  ministers  and  missionaries  in 
Northern  New  England.  Of  noble  personal  appearance 
and  gentlemanly  demeanor,  full  of  plainness  and  com- 
mon sense  in  his  discoursing,  a  clear  expositor  to  the  in- 
quirer after  Christian  truth,  and  a  son  of  consolation  to 
those  who  sought  its  hopes  in  their  sorrows,  he  was  wel- 
come wherever  he  appeared  as  a  representative  of  our 
faith.  His  pastorates,  nine  in  number  (viz.  in  Lebanon, 
N.  H. ;  Danvers,  Lynn,  and  Lowell,  Mass. ;  Hartford, 
Conn. ;  Troy,  N.  Y.;  Strafford,  Vt,;  and  Concord,  N.  H.), 
all  gave  evidence  of  his  fidelity.  As  a  moral  reformer, 
he  stood  well  without  the  church  as  well  as  in  it,  and 
as  a  man  he  was  esteemed  and  loved  wherever  known. 
Even  the  politicians  conferred  upon  him  the  nomination 
for  the  gubernatorial  chair  of  New  Hampshire ;  not  so 
much  because  of  his  service  to  them  as  a  partisan,  as 
from  the  fact  of  the  excellences  in  him  that  were  above 


148  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

all  mere  party  considerations,  and  which  gave  them  the 
assurance  that  his  honest  and  sturdy  manliness  would 
prove  an  honor  in  any  position  he  might  be  called  to 
fill.  It  afterwards  appearing  that  his  residence  in  the 
State  had  not  been  quite,  long  enough  to  render  him 
eligible  to  the  office,  another  nomination  was  necessa- 
rily made.  His  death  was  sudden.  He  fell,  of  heart 
disease,  near  his  home  in  the  city  where  lie  had  his  last 
pastorate,  lamented  wherever  his  name  and  ministry 
were  known.  A  public  journal  wrote  of  him,  after  his 
departure,  "As  a  man,  he  was  the  very  one  that  Dio- 
genes with  his  lamp  was  looking  for." 

Rev.  Henry  Bacon.  —  How  shall  we  write  of  that 
minister  of  all  work,  of  versatile  genius,  nervous  tem- 
perament, indomitable  will,  constantly  alive  in  his  love 
of  Universalism,  rooted  and  grounded  in  its  theology, 
and  full  of  its  healthful  and  hopeful  spiritualism  as  the 
sea  is  of  water  !  He  was  a  Boston  boy,  of  the  old  North 
End,  born  June  12,  1813;  a  hearer  of  Dean  and  Streeter 
and  Ballou  in  his  }'outh,  and  taught  at  home  by  precept 
and  example  in  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Gospel  of  limitless  grace.  He  was  a  born  minister,  for 
it  was  as  natural  for  him  to  think  and  speak  and  write 
Universalism  as  it  was  to  breathe  God's  air.  He  entered 
the  ministry  early  in  life  (1834),  and  was  successively 
pastor  of  the  societies  in  East  Cambridge,  Haverhill,  and 
Marblehead,  Mass;  Providence,  R.  I.;  and  Philadelphia, 
Pa.  He  was  for  many  years  editor  of  the  "  Ladies'  Re- 
pository," a  monthly  publication  issued  at  Boston  by 
Mr.  Abel  Tompkins;  and  his  prolific  pen  often  sent  out 
sermons,  tracts,  and  pamphlets  in  advocacy  of  the  faith 
of  which  his  soul  was  so  full.     As  another  (Rev.  John 


f  £2^  ■  s .  - .         .  .      .    .  ; 


1 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  149 

Boyden)  said  of  him  :  "  He  was  a  living  encyclopaedia  of 
current  facts,  and  a  living  philosopher  to  arrange  and 
expound  them."  The  Universalist  Reform  Association 
appointed  him  their  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  an 
annual  report  on  the  topics  usually  embraced  in  their 
discussions  was  expected  from  him,  because,  as  one 
remarked,  "  He  got  hold  of  everything." 

He  consecrated  himself  to  his  labors,  and  in  them  he 
was  abundant.     The  poet  Quarles  describes  him  :  — 

"  Thy  life's  a  warfare,  thou  a  soldier  art, 
Satan's  thy  foeman,  and  a  faithful  heart 
Thy  two-edged  weapon,  patience  thy  shield, 
Heaven  is  thy  chieftain,  and  the  world  thy  field.  " 

His  preaching  gave  evidence  of  his  consecration  to 
his  work.  It  seemed  as  though  he  could  never  tire  of 
the  pulpit  service.  He  was  always  ready  to  speak  for 
God's  truth.  His  words  were  earnest,  full,  and  strong; 
his  illustrations  inexhaustible  ;  and  there  was  an  unc- 
tion in  all  he  said  which  gained  the  sympathy  of  every 
hearer  susceptible  of  religious  emotion.  Up  to  the  last 
of  his  working  he  loved  the  pulpit,  and  stood  up  in  it 
until  exhausted  nature  would  allow  him  to  remain  there 
no  longer.  And  when  he  withdrew  with  reluctance 
from  that  sacred  place,  it  was  to  finish  his  work  in  the 
retirement  of  his  home,  to  give  his  d}Ting  testimony  to  a 
life  full  of  the  beauty  and  strength  of  divine  truth. 
He  departed  this  life  in  Philadelphia,  March  19,  1856. 
A  biography  of  him  by  his  wife  has  been  given  to  the 
public. 

Another  of  the  saintly  ministers  of  our  church  was 
Rev.  Day  Kellog  Lee.  He  entered  the  Christian 
ministry  early   in   life,  and, 'although   his   educational 


150  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

advantages  in  the  beginning  were  not  many,  he  was  so 
close  and  constant  a  student  as  to  become  an  expert  in 
literature  and  science,  as  well  as  an  able  expounder  of 
the  Christian  faith.  lie  was  one  of  those  who  felt  that 
he  was  called  upon  to  preach,  and  that  he  must  not  be 
kept  too  long  from  entering  upon  his  work.  The  text 
of  his  first  sermon  indicates  his  anxiety  in  this  regard  : 
"  Let  me  go,  for  the  day  breaketh."  Gen.  xxii.  36. 
And  he  went  out  into  the  fields  of  the  Lord  to  be  his 
faithful  and  profitable  servant.  Astronomy  was  a  fa- 
vorite study  with  him.  His  sermons  were  often  illus- 
trated and  beautified  by  his  presentation  of  its  facts,  and 
he  came  to  be  a  most  acceptable  lecturer  on  the  science 
itself.  He  had  seven  pastorates  in  New  York  and 
Massachusetts,  and  in  them  all  was  deepty  loved  for  his 
admirable  character  and  intense  interest  in  his  calling. 
He  was  a  son  of  song,  and  put  his  soul  into  his  verse. 
What  can  be  sweeter  than  his  tribute  to  the  beloved 
poet  and  author,  Mrs.  Scott,  inserted  in  her  "  Memoir  "  ? 

"  To  say  I  'd  pressed  lier  hand,  't  was  not  for  me  — 

To  share  her  friendship,  it  was  not  my  gladness  ; 
'T  was  ne'er  the  blessing  of  these  eyes  to  see 

The  form  whose  slumber  wakes  this  note  of  sadness. 
But  0  !  I  weep  for  those  who  yet  remain, 

To  know  so  bright  a  spirit  hath  ascended! 
Fond  of  that  lyre,  enraptured  of  its  strain, 

I  weep  to  hear  its  melodies  are  ended  ! 

"  Short  years  ago,  in  boyhood's  rosy  morn, 

When  Aspiration  seemed  its  measure  brimming, 
Longing  for  joys  that  crown  the  spirit-born, 

I  heard  the  lays  of  life  that  she  Mas  liymning. 
Who  that  hath  drunk  those  melodies  that  rose 

Sweet  as  the  murmur  of  celestial  fountains, 
Hath  not  in  fancy  pictured  her  with  those 

Whose  feet  are  beautiful  upon  the  mountains  ! 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  151 

"  The  seraphs  all  had  joy  in  fuller  streams, 

When  her  pure  lips  their  symphonies  were  swelling ; 
They'll  want  her  there,  while  God's  own  glory  beams, 
And  while  the  ransomed  keep  their  starry  dwelling, 
To  hymn  the  beauty  of  immortal  mind, — 

For,  of  that  world,  mind  is  the  greatest  splendor,  — 
Lift  holier  anthems  as  new  bliss  they  find 

And  drink  new  life  as  loftier  praise  they  render.  " 

He  was  a  writer  of  attractive  volumes  containing  Tales 
of  Labor  ;  "  Summerfield,  or  Life  on  a  Farm,"  "  The 
Master  Builder,  or  Life  at  a  Trade,"  and  "  Merrimac,  or 
Life  in  a  Factory  ;  "  works  of  merit,  which  have  been 
extensively  read.  His  modesty,  conscientiousness,  de- 
votion to  duty,  and  religious  spirit,  all  serve  to  make 
blessed  his  memory,  a  memory  that  can  never  be  dwelt 
upon  but  with  affection  by  those  who  knew  most  of 
him  in  life.  In  1868  St.  Lawrence  University  conferred 
upon  him  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  He  passed 
suddenly  but  peacefully  away  from  the  earth,  in  New 
York  city,  June  2,  1869,  aged  53.  His  son,  Rev.  Charles 
F.  Lee,  is  at  present  pastor  of  the  Universalist  church 
in  Charlestown,  Mass. 


152  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

SKETCHES    OF   MINISTERS  —  continued. 

"  There  be  of  them  that  have  left  a  name  behind  them,  that  their 
praises  might  be  reported  ....  Their  bodies  are  buried  in  peace  ;  but 
their  name  liveth  evermore.  The  people  will  tell  of  their  wisdom,  and 
the  congregation  will  show  forth  their  praise.  "  —  Ecclesiasticus, 
xliv.  8,  14,  15. 

"O  EV.  GEORGE  BATES,  one  of  the  faithful  minis- 
-"-^-  ters  of  Maine,  was  born  there  in  the  town  of  Fay- 
ette, in  1798.  In  early  life  he  was  a  mechanic,  but  in 
due  time,  as  Rev.  W.  A.  Drew  wrote  of  him,  "  He  laid 
down  the  sledge  of  Vulcan,  and  put  on  the  Gospel  har- 
ness. "  He  was  a  student  for  a  time  in  the  family  of 
Rev.  Hosea  Ballou,  at  Boston.  He  was  pastor  in  Liver- 
more,  and  afterwards  for  twenty-five  j'ears  in  Turner, 
Me.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  after  a  suit  at  law,  in 
which  the  town  recovered  the  ministerial  fund  asrainst 
the  Congregational  society,  the  people  of  Turner,  by 
legal  votes,  dismissed  the  clergyman  of  that  church, 
Rev.  Allen  Greeley,  and  settled  Mr.  Bates  as  the 
town's  minister.  With  true  liberality,  on  acquiring 
possession  of  this  fund,  the  town  parish  made  a  per 
capita  distribution  of  it  to  all  the  societies  in  Turner, 
that  each  might  enjoy  its  proportional  share  of  support 
from  the  same  fund. 

Mr.  Bates  was  one  of  the  best  of  country  pastors. 
He  was  at  home  everywhere,  and  a  welcome  visitor  in 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  153 

most  homes  where  he  went.  He  was  clear  and  scrip- 
tural in  his  expositions,  and  in  his  discourses  "  a  work- 
man that  needed  not  to  be  ashamed."  He  was  a 
minister  of  consolation  far  and  near,  and  had  many 
calls  to  officiate  on  funeral  occasions.  No  clergyman  in 
Maine  was  more  respected  and  honored  than  he.  His 
departure  took  place  at  his  home  in  Lewiston,  Me., 
Jan.  24,  1875,  at  the  age  of  77. 

Ezekiel  Vose.  A  small,  lame,  modest,  but  wide- 
awake-looking man  was  this  minister,  as  the  writer  re- 
members his  first  meeting  him  in  Northern  New  Hamp- 
shire. He  came  from  the  First  Universalist  Society  in 
Boston,  and  settled  in  St.  Johnsbuiy,  Vt.,  preaching 
there  and  in  many  other  places  in  Vermont  and  New 
Hampshire  for  some  years.  He  had  enjoyed  only  com- 
mon educational  advantages,  but  was  a  studious  man 
and  a  strong  and  clear  thinker.  He  wrote  but  little. 
His  preaching  was  usually  extemporaneous,  not  always 
very  methodical  in  plan,  but  usually  successful,  espe- 
cially in  making  his  subject  plain.  He  could  say  a  great 
many  things  in  one  of  his  missionary  discourses,  and 
would  bring  them  in  quite  miscellaneously.  But  they 
were  usually  things  which  proved  interesting  to  his 
hearers,  especially  to  those  who  had  seldom,  if  ever, 
listened  to  ministers  of  our  faith.  Long  remembered 
will  be  a  discourse  which  he  gave  in  the  writer's  hearing 
one  winter  evening  in  Dorchester,  N.  H.  A  large  cor- 
ner school-house  was  packed  full,  and  the  speaker  stood 
in  one  corner  with  his  little  Bible  in  hand.  His  text 
was,  "  Prove  all  things ;  "  and  so  wide  was  his  range  in 
topics,  and  so  many  things  did  he  undertake  to  prove, 
and  so  long,  and  rapidly  and  earnestly  did  he  talk  to 


154  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

that  attentive  audience,  that  it  seemed  as  though  no  man 
in  the  same  time  could  come  nearer  than  he  to  a  compli- 
ance literally  with  the  direction  of  the  text !  He  was  a 
sincere,  humble,  warm-hearted  Christian.  Every  one 
who  knew  him  thought  and  spoke  well  of  him.  From 
St.  Johnsbury  he  moved  to  Orleans,  Mass.,  and  after- 
wards to  North  Turner,  Me.,  where,  after  a  busy  and 
useful  life,  he  died  in  1861,  aged  67. 

Rev.  Lemuel  Willis  of  Windham,  Vt.,  was  born 
April  21,  1802.  His  father  was  a  convert  to  Univer- 
salism  as  taught  by  Rev.  Elhanan  Winchester,  and  the 
son  was  educated  in  the  same  faith.  At  an  early  age 
he  became  the  student  of  Rev.  S.  C.  Loveland,  of  Read- 
ing, Vt.,  and  in  July,  1822,  preached  his  first  sermon. 
His  first  professional  labors  were  in  Washington,  Stod- 
dard, Marlow  and  Acworth,  N.  H.  His  subsequent 
pastorates  were  at  Troy,  N.  Y.  from  1826  to  1828;  then 
in  Salem,  and  afterwards  in  Lynn  and  Cambridgeport, 
Mass.  and  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  At  the  time  of  his  death, 
Dr.  G.  H.  Emerson  wrote  of  him  justly :  — 

"  He  always  preached  well.  There  was  in  his  preaching  a 
good  basis  of  thought,  with  a  practical  application,  and  a 
tone  of  fervent  piety.  But  he  had  and  has  no  'earthquake' 
gifts.  The  city  did  not  run  mad  because  Lemuel  Willis 
preached.  We  have  heard  one  of  his  supporters  say  that  he 
does  not  remember  one  sermon  that  would  be  called  poor ; 
but  in  all  his  Salem  ministry  he  never  once  startled  his  hear- 
ers. His  manner  is  best  described  b}^  the  word  impressive. 
Steady  work,  steady  power,  and  ever-increasing  influence, 
and  the  radiation  more  than  the  example  of  a  good  life,  made 
him  successful  in  the  purest  sense  of  this  much  abused  word. 
But  not  alone  in  Salem,  but- everywhere,  Mr.  Willis  did  good 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  155 

in  his  character  of  minister.  Literally  he  was  all  minister. 
He  cared  to  know  only  Christ  and  Him  crucified.  And  to 
this  end  all  personal  interests  were  subordinate.  Not  alone 
in  the  pulpit,  but  on  the  street,  in  the  house,  at  the  private 
gathering,  he  was  the  minister.  But  as  he  never  put  the  min- 
ister off  so  he  never  put  the  minister  on.  It  was  his  nature 
to  be  a  minister  and  he  could  never  seem  to  be  otherwise." 

Mr.  Willis  seemed  the  embodiment  of  a  dignity,  not 
offensive  but  agreeable.  It  is  said  that  on  one  occasion 
he  was  in  company  at  a  store  in  Salem  with  one  of  the 
orthodox  pastors  of  that  city,  who  was  a  very  animated 
and  cheerful  man  in  conversation.  After  they  had  left 
the  store,  a  gentleman  who  had  quietly  listened  to  them 
both,  on  asking  the  proprietor  what  clergymen  they 
were,  was  told,  and  was  asked  to  "  guess  "  which  one 
was  the  Orthodox  and  which  the  Universalist.  His  de- 
cision was  directly  contrary  to  the  facts.  Mr.  Willis  de- 
parted this  life  at  his  home  in  Warner,  N.  H.,  July  23, 
1878. 

A  younger  brother  of  Lemuel,  Rev.  John  H.  Wil- 
lis, was  born  in  Windham,  Vt.,  March  6,  1S07.  At 
the  age  of  eleven  he  became  deeply  interested  in  a 
Calvinistic  Baptist  revival,  and  was  immersed  in  the 
Connecticut  River  in  very  cold  weather,  when  the  ice,  a 
foot  thick,  had  to  be  cut  away  for  the  purpose,  and  soon 
afterwards  joined  the  Baptist  church  in  Chesterfield. 
By  reading  and  reflection  he-i  became  an  intelligent  and 
zealous  Universalist.  He  was  a  good  scholar,  and  taught 
school  successfully  when  quite  young.  He  worked  as  a 
mechanic  for  some  years,  and  in  1830  went  to  Salem, 
Mass.,  where  his  brother  Lemuel  was  then  settled,  and 
after  studying  a  year  under  his  direction  he  began  to 


156  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

preach,  speaking  in  several  places  in  Worcester  County, 
to  the  acceptance  of  the  people.  He  was  ordained  at 
Greenwich,  Mass.,  Nov.  23,  1881.  He  was  pastor  un- 
varying periods  at  Dana,  Greenwich,  Petersham,  West 
Boylston,  Annisquam,  Wakefield,  Irving,  Orange  and 
Warwick,  Mass.,  in  Brattleboro',  Cavendish  and  Chester, 
Vt.,  and  in  Stafford,  Conn.  In  1850  he  was  elected  to 
the  Mass.  Legislature,  and  was  for  several  years  station- 
agent  at  Irving  on  the  Vermont  and  Massachusetts  Rail- 
road. Yet  amid  his  secular  labors  and  cares  he  still 
preached  and  lectured  often,  especially  in  behalf  of  the 
Temperance  reform.  He  was  noted  to  the  end  of  his 
days  for  his  spiritual  fervor  and  religious  enthusiasm. 
He  died  Oct.  9,  1877,  at  the  house  of  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
W.  R.  Shipman,  at  College  Hill,  Mass.,  aged  seventy 
years. 

There  went  out  from  New  England  a  talented  advo- 
cate of  the  Universalist  faith  in  the  person  of  Rev. 
Theodore  Clapp,  a  native  of  Eastliampton,  Mass., 
and  a  graduate  of  Williams  College,  in  the  same  class 
with  William  C.  Bryant.  His  theological  studies  were 
pursued  at  Andover,  Mass.,  and  he  was  licensed  as  a 
minister  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  1817.  He  be- 
came pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  church  in  New 
Orleans,  succeeding  the  brilliant  Sylvester  Larned, 
whose  fame  as  a  pulpit  orator  was  far  extended.  Mr. 
Clapp  proved  a  fitting  successor  of  him,  and  achieved 
great  celebrity  for  his  pulpit  gifts.  Henry  Clay  pro- 
nounced him  the  most  natural  pulpit  orator  he  had 
ever  heard.  His  church  in  New  Orleans  was  usually 
crowded. 

Some  twelve  years  after  his  settlement  in  New  Or- 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  157 

leans  changes  occurred  in  his  theological  opinions,  which 
led  to  the  dissolution  of  his  relations  with  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  He  was  deposed  from  his  ministerial 
office  for  heresy,  and  was  afterwards  known  as  an  inde- 
pendent minister,  cherishing  Universalist  and  Unitarian 
opinions.  This  change  of  relations  however  did  not 
alienate  his  parish  from  him.  The  church  building  at 
an  earlier  date  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  well- 
known  Hebrew  millionnaire,  Judah  Truro,  and  by  bis  lib- 
erality Mr.  Clapp  occupied  the  church  and  preached  to 
his  old  hearers.  His  services  will  long  be  tenderly  re- 
membered in  New  Orleans.  During  twenty  seasons  of 
epidemic  cholera  and  yellow  fever,  Mr.  Clapp  was  at  his 
post  of  duty,  and  by  his  ministry  of  consolation  car- 
ried comfort  to  the  great  multitudes  stricken  by  the 
pestilence.  His  "  Autobiographical  Recollections "  is 
largely  devoted  to  these  memorable  seasons,  and  is  one 
of  the  most  interesting  volumes  ever  published.  In 
later  years  of  his  life  he  felt  compelled  by  failing  health 
to  relinquish  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  in  1866  de- 
parted this  life  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  aged  74.  Of  him  it 
was  said  by  Dr.  Alexander  Campbell  that  he  could  not 
believe  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery  if  he  tried  :  "  You 
have  too  much  benevolence,"  added  the  Doctor.  He 
read  this  in  the  face  of  Mr.  Clapp,  in  the  soft  lines,  and 
in  the  warm  and  benignant  glow,  that  told  of  a  heart 
full  of  sympathy  and  pity. 

A  stirring  and  industrious  laborer  in  the  propagation 
of  the  Universalist  faith  was  Rev.  John  A.  Gurley, 
of  Connecticut.  At  the  early  age  of  twenty  he  was 
preaching  in  Maine,  and  after  a  short  settlement  in 
Methuen,  Mass.,  he  purchased  a  denominational  paper, 


158  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

the  "  Star  in  the  West,"  and  went  to  reside  in  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio.  He  became  pastor  and  editor  in  that  city. 
He  did  much  missionary  work,  journeying  into  distant 
States  and  Territories,  holding  discussions  and  preaching 
wherever  he  had  opportunity,  the  circulation  of  his 
paper  constantly  increasing.  His  bodily  powers  becom- 
ing weakened  by  over-exertion,  he  deemed  it  advisable 
to  change  his  mode  of  life  somewhat,  and  disposed  of 
his  paper  and  ceased  to  preach.  He  subsequently 
became  an  active  politician,  served  two  terms  as  repre- 
sentative in  Congress  from  Ohio,  and  was  at  the  time 
of  his  death  the  appointed  Governor  of  Arizona.  Al- 
though apparently  a  frail  man,  he  was  capable  of  great 
endurance,  and  few  of  his  years  have  put  more  diligent 
work  into  a  life.  He  was  emphatically  an  executive 
man,  and  had  the  faculty  of  making  all  his  plans  and 
movements  tell  to  advantage.  He  was  fond  of  theo- 
logical debate,  and  during  the  presidency  of  the  elder 
Dr.  Beecher  at  Lane  Seminary,  he  sought  to  draw  out 
that  noted  man  in  a  statement  of  his  arguments  against 
Universalism.  He  received  promises  more  than  once 
from  the  doctor  that  his  request  should  be  answered 
to  his  entire  satisfaction,  but  the  fulfilment  of  them  was 
never  realized.  Mr.  Gurley  was  a  genial  man  and  an 
attractive  companion.  He  made  many  friends  in  his 
life,  and  will  not  be  forgotten  by  the  Universalists  in 
Ohio,  who  regretted  that  he  could  not  have  devoted  the 
last  of  his  life  solely  to  the  interests  of  the  church. 

Rev.  Enoch  M.  Pingree  was  by  birth  a  New  Eng- 
lander,  born  in  Littleton,  N.  H.,  but  through  some  of 
the  most  important  years  of  his  ministry  a  laborer  in 
the  West.     He  was  one  of  the  born  ministers,  and  had 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  159 

good  opportunities  for  study  at  the  Methodist  Seminary 
in  Newbury,  Vt.  At  this  school  he  was  an  earnest  ad- 
vocate of  the  Universalist  faith,  which  rendered  him 
unpopular  with  most  of  the  students  and  teachers.  He 
distinguished  himself  in  the  lyceum  and  debating  so- 
ciety, and  exerted  such  an  influence  as  to  call  out  the 
professors  to  defend  their  cause  against  the  arguments 
and  bold  positions  of  this  ardent  youth.  After  preach- 
ing a  little  in  New  England,  he  started  for  the  West, 
in  1837.  He  was  pastor  in  Cincinnati  and  Louisville, 
and  a  missionary  in  various  places  in  the  Western  States. 
Here  he  became  developed  from  a  quiet  and  diffident 
man  into  a  bold  and  confident  advocate  of  his  senti- 
ments. He  became  a  public  debater,  and  "  waxed 
valiant  in  fight  "  in  many  controversies.  His  published 
discussion  with  Dr.  Rice,  an  able  and  distinguished 
Presbyterian  divine,  does  him  great  honor.  He  was  a 
busy,  sympathetic,  and  faithful  pastor,  also  a  ready 
thinker,  fluent  speaker,  and  rapid  writer.  His  industry 
was  untiring,  and  it  wore  him  out  at  last.  In  discus- 
sion he  was  candid  as  well  as  strong,  never  descending 
to  any  low  or  unmanly  reference  to  his  opponent,  no 
matter  how  much  abused,  nor  attempting  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  prejudices  of  the  people.  Religious  dis- 
cussions were  matters  of  purest  conscience  with  him. 
His  ministry  was  brief,  but  one  of  intense  vigor  and 
action.  Greatly  beloved  by  multitudes  of  friends,  he 
departed  this  life  in  1849,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty- 
three. 

Rev.  Thomas  J.  Greenwood,  before  his  entrance 
upon  the  work  of  the  ministry,  held  the  position  of 
overseer  in  one  of  the  mills  in  Lowell,  at  the  beginning 


160  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

of  the  growth  of  that  city.  He  was  born  in  Newton, 
Mass.,  and  was  a  fairly-educated,  strong-minded,  and 
trustworthy  man.  An  attempt  had  been  made  to  es- 
tablish a  Universalist  Society  in  Lowell,  and  Mr. 
Greenwood  was  deeply  interested  in  it.  The  mill 
authorities  were  opposed  to  the  movement,  and  inti- 
mated to  this  their  employee  that  his  heresy  could  not 
be  favorably  regarded  by  them,  and  that  if  he  continued 
to  be  its  active  supporter,  they  and  he  must  part  com- 
pany. His  conscience  was  true  to  principle  as  the 
needle  to  the  pole,  and  he  readily  accepted  their  terms, 
and  turned  away  from  their  service  to  enter  and  honor 
another,  to  which  he  afterwards  gave  the  most  of  his 
life.  He  had  profitable  pastorates  in  New  England,  his 
last  three  having  been  in  Dover,  N.  H.,  and  Maiden 
and  Saugus,  Mass.  His  good  reputation  was  in  all  our 
churches,  as  a  ready  and  vigorous  writer,  an  eloquent 
preacher,  a  loving  and  industrious  pastor,  and,  more 
than  all,  a  royal  man.  A  faithful  biographer  (Iiev.  A. 
J.  Patterson,  D.  D.)  has  written  of  him  :  — 

"  He  was  the  central  figure  in  the  entire  community  where 
he  dwelt.  His  manly,  dignified  presence,  his  genial  manners, 
his  willing*  helpful  hand  in  every  worthy  cause,  his  charity 
towards  other  sects,  his  kindness  to  the  poor,  his  pity  for 
the  erring,  his  sympathy  in  chambei\s  of  sickness  and  towards 
all  kinds  of  suffering,  his  words  of  more  than  human  com- 
fort at  the  open  grave,  and  withal  his  rare  good  judgment  and 
solid  common  sense  in  everything,  caused  him  to  be  respected 
and  consulted  far  beyond  the  circle  of  the  church.  He  was 
devoted  to  all  public  interests,  served  several  terms  in  the 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  and  was  once  nominated  for  the 
National  Congress  from  his  district." 

He  departed  this  life  in  Maiden,  Sept.  12,  1874. 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  161 

Rev.  Elbridge  Gerry  Brooks,  D.  D.,  was  born  in 
Dover,  N.  H.,  July  29,  1816,  and  died  in  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  April  8,  1878.  During  his  infancy  his  parents  re- 
moved to  Portsmouth,  where  he  passed  the  years  of  his 
boyhood.  He  was  a  strong,  healthful  youth,  and  was 
blessed  with  parents  who  were  devoted  to  his  highest 
welfare,  and  whose  exemplary  religious  characters  made 
a  deep  impress  upon  his  after  life.  Just  previous  to  his 
ninth  birthday,  a  sad  accident  occurred,  by  which  his 
leg  was  so  severely  injured  that  amputation  became 
necessary.  He  bore  the  painful  operation  with  manly 
fortitude,  and  during  the  consequent  confinement  saw 
many  of  the  pleasing  visions  of  his  coming  life  dispelled. 
When  he  recovered,  however,  his  brave  nature  did  not 
brood  over  his  misfortune,  but  his  heart  was  made  more 
tender  by  it,  and  as  he  grew  older  was  filled  with  a  strong 
religious  interest,  and  he  early  decided  to  devote  him- 
self to  the  Christian  ministry.  His  pious  parents,  re- 
joicing in  the  zeal  and  enthusiasm  of  their  crippled  boy, 
did  all  in  their  power  to  encourage  his  aspirations  and 
to  have  him  suitably  fitted  for  his  chosen  calling. 

At  that  time,  Rev.  T.  F.  King  was  settled  in  Ports- 
mouth, and,  discerning  the  rare  promise  of  his  young 
friend,  gave  him  hearty  and  effective  encouragement. 
After  acquiring  such  knowledge  as  the  Portsmouth 
schools  could  give  him,  he  was  aided  by  his  faithful 
pastor  in  the  further  pursuit  of  his  studies,  and  at  the 
early  age  of  nineteen  he  began  to  preach.  His  first 
sermon  was  delivered  in  Portsmouth,  and  gave  great 
satisfaction  to  those  who  heard  it.  He  was  first  settled 
in  Exeter,  N.  H. ;  then  in  Amesbury,  Mass.,  where  he 
was  ordained,  Oct.  19,  1837 ;  then  in  East  Cambridge, 
Mass. ;  then  in  Lowell,  and,  in  1846,  took  charge  of  the 

11 


162  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

parish  in  Bath,  Me.  In  1850  he  returned  to  Massachu- 
setts and  settled  in  Lynn,  where  he  remained  nine 
years.  In  1859  he  was  called  to  the  Sixth  Church  in 
New  York,  where  he  remained  eight  years,  and  until 
he  was  chosen,  in  1867,  General  Secretary  of  the  United 
States  Convention.  His  duty  in  this  new  capacity  was 
to  direct  and  take  the  lead  of  the  missionary  enter- 
prises  and  to  visit  all  sections  of  the  country.  His 
labors  were  manifold  and  arduous,  but  very  efficient 
and  successful,  until  his  health  became  impaired,  and 
he  was  obliged  to  resign  his  office  and  return  to  his 
family.  After  resting  a  few  months,  and  partially  re- 
covering his  strength,  he  accepted,  in  November,  1869, 
an  invitation  to  the  Church  of  the  Messiah  in  Phila- 
delphia, to  which  he  gave  the  last  years  of  his  useful 
life,  and  where  he  joyfully  resigned  that  life  April  8, 
1878. 

As  a  preacher,  Dr.  Brooks  was  in  the  front  rank  of 
our  ministers.     As  another  has  written  :  — 

"  He  was  entirely  consecrated  to  his  work,  and  in  the  pul- 
pit he  spoke  as  one  having  authority.  His  sonorous  voice 
and  majestic  bearing  were  in  perfect  harmony  with  his  clear 
and  forcible  presentation  of  his  thought,  and  emphasized  his 
urgent  appeals  to  the  conscience  of  his  hearer.  He  was  by 
nature  an  ardent  reformer,  and  was  always  true  to  his  con- 
victions. He  could  not  keep  back  the  smallest  fragment  of 
what  he  believed  to  be  God's  truth.  He  early  threw  himself, 
heart  and  soul,  into  the  anti-slavery  cause,  and  during  the 
war  of  the  rebellion  his  clarion  voice  gave  no  uncertain 
sound." 

He  was  a  clear  and  vigorous  writer.  His  two  volumes, 
"  Universalism  in  Life  and  Doctrine,"  and  "  Our  New 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  163 

Departure,"  evince  this.  They  are  valuable  additions 
to  our  church  literature.  He  was  one  of  our  best  or- 
ganizers. Seldom  absent  from  our  conventions,  and 
nearly  always  serving  on  executive  boards  and  import- 
ant committees,  nearly  every  department  of  our  church 
work  received  an  impression  from  his  hand.  In  1867 
Tufts  College  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  D.  D. 
It  has  been  truly  said  of  him  :  — 

"  lie  was  born  into  Universalism.  He  was  cradled  in  its 
arms.  He  was  taught  it  at  his  mother's  knee.  He  believed 
it  from  his  earliest  conscious  years.  He  never  was  influenced 
by  any  other  faith.  What  he  was  it  made  him.  Let  no  man 
say  it  is  not  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  while  we  can 
point  to  such  examples  of  its  influence  in  life  and  death.  He 
has  gone  to  that  home  which  his  faith  made  so  real  to  many 
souls." 

Rev.  Ebenezer  Fisher,  D.  D.,  has  won  honorable 
distinction  in  the  Universalist  Church.  He  was  born  in 
Charlotte,  Me.,  Feb.  6,  1815,  and  died  in  Canton,  N.  Y., 
Feb.  21,  1879.  His  father  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of 
Eastern  Maine,  and  the  son  passed  his  early  years  in  a 
new  country,  in  the  midst  of  hardships  incident  to  such 
a  condition.  With  the  exception  of  a  single  term  at  the 
Readfield  Seminary,  he  had  no  advantages  beyond  what 
were  afforded  by  the  common  schools  of  his  native  town. 
His  early  religious  training  was  in  the  Orthodox  church, 
against  whose  gloomy  doctrines  his  whole  soul  revolted. 
When  about  sixteen  years  old  a  few  Universalist  books 
and  papers  were  put  into  his  hands,  the  perusal  of  which, 
in  connection  with  the  Bible,  brought  him  "out  of  dark- 
ness into  marvellous  light,"  and  he  gradually  formed  the 
purpose  to  fit  himself  for  the  Christian  ministry.     He 


164  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

sought  and  obtained  fellowship  of  the  Maine  Convention 
in  1840,  and  in  1841  settled  at  Addison  Point,  Me., 
until  in  April,  1847,  he  accepted  a  call  to  Salem,  Mass., 
where  his  pastorate  was  eminently  successful.  In  No- 
vember, 1853,  he  removed  to  South  Dedham  (now  Nor- 
wood), where  he  remained  until  1858,  when  he  was 
appointed  President  of  the  Theological  School  at  Can- 
ton, N.  Y.,  and  thenceforth  he  gave  his  time,  labor, 
thought,  and  strength  to  a  work  for  which  he  proved 
himself  peculiarly  fitted.  For  more  than  twenty  years 
he  was  the  honored  head  of  the  first  Universalist  Theo- 
logical School,  and  during  that  time  one  hundred  and 
three  students  were  graduated,  who  are  now  scattered 
over  the  country,  and  bearing  testimony  to  his  faithful 
teaching,  his  rare  devotion  to  duty,  his  profound  scholar- 
ship, and  his  eminence  in  all  Christian  virtues.  How- 
ever marked  may  have  been  the  results  of  his  labors  in 
other  fields,  his  work  in  the  Theological  School  was  the 
most  important  and  conspicuous,  and  will  be  his  most 
enduring  monument.  The  degree  of  D.  D.  was  con- 
ferred upon  him  in  1862  by  Lombard  University.  Rev. 
I.  M.  Atwood,  D.  D.,  his  successor  as  President  in  the 
Canton  Theological  School,  thus  truly  and  graphically 
presents  him  to  us  :  — 

"  A  grand  man,  made  up  in  a  large  and  noble  fashion, 
with  paternal  benignity  in  his  face  and  a  note  of  sonorous 
warning  in  his  voice,  able,  acute,  aggressive,  immovable,  the 
sturdy  strength  and  wintry  rigor  of  his  nature  relieved  by  a 
certain  charm  of  tenderness  which  affected  one  like  the  scent 
of  sweet  flowers  amid  the  majesty  of  the  primeval  woods  ;  in 
his  preaching  a  strain  of  deep  sincerity  which  made  the  hearer 
feel  the  solemn  reality  of  those  things  about  which  there  is  so 
much  superficial  prattle,  —  a  great,  brave,  patient  spirit,  loyal 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  165 

to  the  truth,  trustworthy  as  a  star,  and  of  such  a  breadth  and 
strength  of  moral  build  as  made  him  an  imposing  Christian 
force  in  the  community,  —  such  to  our  thought  was  Ebenezer 
Fisher,  who  fell  asleep  Friday  morning,  Feb.  21,  1879,  having 
just  passed  his  sixty-fourth  birthday. 

A  well-remembered  elder  of  apostolic  aspect  and  spirit 
was  the  Rev.  Seth  Stetson,  born  in  Kingston,  Mass., 
in  1776,  and  dying  at  the  age  of  ninety-one  in  Brunswick, 
Me.  He  was  reared  in  the  faith  of  the  Puritan  fathers, 
near  the  old  Plymouth  rock  ;  learned  the  trade  of  a 
ship-carpenter,  emigrated,  to  Maine,  gave  himself  to 
much  study,  entered  the  Congregationalist  ministry,  and 
was  pastor  in  Maine  and  Massachusetts  for  some  years. 
When  the  Unitarian  controversy  arose  in  New  England, 
he  became  deeply  interested  in  it,  accepted  Unitarianism 
as  the  truth  of  God,  preached  it  as  a  missionary,  and 
soon  saw  clearly  the  doctrine  of  the  salvation  of  all  men 
as  a  revelation  of  the  Scriptures.  He  was  minister  of 
this  faith  in  Charlestown  and  Salem,  Mass.,  and  after- 
wards had  several  pastorates  in  Maine.  His  heart  and 
life  wrere  full  of  the  spirit  of  the  great  Christian  Master. 
Universalism  to  him  was  not  only  a  divine  word,  but  a 
regenerative  power.  The  love  wdiich  it  inculcated  he 
possessed  and  exercised.  His  heavenly  spirit  beaming 
from  his  pleasant  countenance  and  pervading  his  sweet 
conversation  made  him  welcome  everywhere.  What  the 
New  Testament  says  of  another  was  applicable  to  him  : 
"A  good  man,  and  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  of  faith." 

Rev.  William  Bell,  son  of  a  Calvinistic  clergyman, 
was  for  many  years  an  active  advocate  of  the  Universal- 


166  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

ist  faith.  The  rigid  theology  of  his  father  had  the 
tendency  to  push  him  into  Deism,  until  the  light  of  the 
greater  Gospel  broke  upon  his  mind.  After  years  spent 
in  mechanical  pursuits,  with  a  moderate  education,  un- 
der the  instruction  of  the  senior  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou,  he 
began  to  preach,  obtained  fellowship,  and  spent  the  first 
ten  years  of  his  ministry  in  New  Hampshire  and  Ver- 
mont. Subsequently  he  became  editor  of  the  "  Watch- 
man and  Christian  Repository,"  at  Woodstock,  Vt.,  and 
in  after  years  of  the  "  Star  of  Bethlehem,"  in  Lowell, 
Mass.  He  preached  much  up  to  his  seventy-eighth 
year,  retaining  his  vigor  of  body  and  mind.  He  was 
plain  and  direct  in  his  style  as  a  preacher,  keen  in  his 
expositions  of  what  he  deemed  error,  a  good  logician, 
strongly  doctrinal  in  his  discourses,  and  deeply  religious 
in  feeling.  One  of  the  last  occasions  of  his  speaking  in 
public  was  at  the  Centennial  Convention  in  Gloucester 
in  1870.  Near  the  close  of  his  life  he  wrote  a  strong 
and  searching  letter  to  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  in 
review  of  a  sermon  on  future  punishment  published  by 
him.     He  died  in  Boston  in  1871. 

"  An  able  minister  of  the  New  Testament  "  was  Rev. 
Calvin  Gardner,  a  native  of  Hingham,  Mass.,  and 
pastor  in  Charlestown,  Duxbury,  Lowell,  and  Province- 
town,  Mass.,  and  for  twenty  years  in  Waterville,  Me. 
In  early  life  he  wrought  at  his  trade  in  one  of  the  me- 
chanic arts.  Becoming  interested  in  the  doctrine  of 
Universal  Salvation,  he  entered  the  ministry  in  1825. 
He  was  a  reader  and  thinker,  a  sound  theologian,  and 
forcible  preacher.  He  was  always  welcomed  at  associa- 
tions and  conventions,  and  listened  to  with  interest  by 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  167 

those  who  came  to  be  fed  with  the  plain  and  wholesome 
food  of  the  Gospel.  He  was  a  genial  companion  and 
high-minded  man.  He  passed  suddenly  away  by  death 
while  seated  in  a  store  which  he  had  entered  but  a  little 
while  before. 


168  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SKETCHES   OF   MINISTEKS  —  continued. 

The  weapons  which  your  hands  have  found 
Are  those  which  Heaven  itself  has  wrought, 

Light,  Truth  and  Love  ; — your  battle-ground 
The  free,  broad  field  of  thought. 

Whittier. 

TO  EV.  JOSIAH  GILMAN  was  another  of  the  sturdy 
J-^-  mechanics  who  came  from  the  forge,  and  after 
his  best  endeavors  to  gain  a  tolerable  preparation  for 
the  ministry,  entered  it,  if  not  with  much  mental  cul- 
ure,  yet  with  a  heart  full  of  love  of  the  new  faith  into 
which  he  had  grown  out  of  that  theology  which  one 
of  the  Beecher  sisters  has  said  evinces  "  an  awful  mis- 
take somewhere."  He  was  always  alive  with  his  theme. 
His  work  in  the  pulpit  was  as  strong  and  as  faithfully 
done  as  any  which  he  had  wrought  out  upon  the  anvil. 
He  was  a  useful  missionary.  No  one  could  have  been 
more  conscientious  than  he  respecting  the  religious 
qualifications  of  a  Christian  minister.  His  own  charac- 
ter was  the  best  illustration  he  could  give  of  his  ideal. 
That  was  above  reproach. 

Mr.  Gilman  had  a  stentorian  voice  when  excited  in 
speaking,  but  was  often  slow  in  speech,  and  to  some 
hearers  might  seem  at  times  wanting  in  animation.  It 
is  related   that  while  preaching  in  a  country  place  in 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  169 

New  Hampshire  one  hot  summer  afternoon,  a  part  of 
his  audience  being  hard-working  haymakers,  his  dis- 
course became  somewhat  quiet  in  its  manner,  so  that  an 
evident  drowsiness  had  taken  hold  of  some  of  the  listen- 
ers. The  speaker,  perceiving  it,  suddenly  paused  for 
some  seconds,  and  then  bringing  his  clenched  hand 
down  quite  loudly  upon  the  desk  before  him,  exclaimed 
good  naturedly,  "  Come  brethren,  wake  up  !  and  let  us 
take  another  view  of  this  subject."  The  call  was  effec- 
tive, and  both  speaker  and  hearers  were  in  sympathetic 
wakefulness  to  the  end.  The  good  man  departed  this 
life  in  Lynn,  Mass.,  in  1858,  aged  67. 

Another  comer  from  the  anvil,  a  strong,  cheery, 
blunt,  warm-hearted  man,  deeply  in  love  with  the  truth 
of  the  Gospel,  and  running  over  with  zeal  in  his  advo- 
cacy of  it,  was  Rev.  Emmons  Partridge.  He  was 
superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school  in  the  First  Uni- 
versalist  church  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  while  Rev.  David 
Pickering  was  its  pastor.  He  entered  the  ministry  with 
but  little  scholarly  preparation  for  it ;  but  somehow,  by 
divine  grace,  he  did  quite  an  acceptable  work  as  a  mis- 
sionary and  as  pastor  of  a  number  of  societies.  God 
chooses  his  own  instruments  in  his  work,  and  this  minis- 
ter was  one.  Without  the  graces  of  oratory,  he  was 
a  plain  and  often  instructive  preacher,  because  he  was 
usually  highly  charged  with  his  subject  and  eager  to  de- 
clare it  to  his  hearers.  If  his  illustrations  were  some- 
times homely,  they  were  usually  to  the  point,  and  if 
they  excited  a  smile  carried  a  conviction.  He  was 
ready  in  expedients,  if  these  were  necessary,  to  win 
the  good  will  of  his  neighbors  who  might  be  strongly 
prejudiced  against  his  theology.     "  I  had  hard  work," 


170  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

said  he,  "  to  get  the  kind  attention  of  one  man.  I  tried 
many  ways :  but  at  last,  as  we  were  both  very  much 
interested  in  raising  rare  kinds  of  poultry,  I  opened 
his  heart  towards  me  by  occasional  exchanges  of  choice 
eggs  with  him  !  "  He  could  meet  pulpit  embarrassments 
coolly  and  more  successfully  than  others  might  have 
done.  Lecturing  one  evening  in  his  pulpit  at  Water- 
town,  Mass.,  he  came  to  a  place  in  his  manuscript  where 
the  matter  was  confusedly  mixed.  The  leaves  had  been 
wrongly  stitched  together,  and  he  vainly  tried  to  put 
them  in  order.  Despairing  of  this,  lie  quietly  and 
quaintly  remarked,  "  Well,  this  is  strange.  I  thought  I 
put  these  leaves  in  as  they  ought  to  be,  but  they  are  so 
mixed  that  I  can't  make  any  thing  out  of  them.  I 
think  I  will  say  the  rest  without  the  notes  !  "  and  he  did, 
to  the  satisfaction  as  well  as  amusement  of  the  audience. 
He  died  somewhat  advanced  in  years,  highly  esteemed 
by  all  who  knew  him. 

Rev.  William  I.  Reese  began  to  preach  in  Central 
New  York,  in  Onondaga  County,  and  was  ordained  at 
the  session  of  the  Cayuga  Universalist  Association  in 
1824.  For  a  few  years  he  was  the  minister  of  the  Uni- 
versalist societies  in  East  and  North  Bloomfield,  and 
then  of  the  church  in  Portland,  Me.  He  went  to  Buf- 
falo on  call  of  the  church  there  in  the  early  spring  of 
1834,  and  there  in  the  succeeding  summer  his  earthly 
ministry  suddenly  came  to  a  close.  It  was  the  second 
year  of  that  terrible  visitation,  the  Asiatic  cholera,  and 
the  city  to  which  he  had  only  just  removed  was  awfully 
ravaged  by  the  sweep  of  the  dark-winged  pestilence. 
Unfalteringly  at  his  post  of  duty  in  all  those  dark  days, 
devoting  himself  to  loving  ministries  among  sick  and 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  171 

suffering  and  dying  people,  showing  himself  everywhere 
an  angel  of  mercy  and  consolation,  he  fell  a  victim  at 
last  to  the  desolating  scourge,  and  in  the  prime  of  his 
grand  manhood,  the  good  fight  fought,  the  faith  kept, 
the  course  finished,  he  passed  on  to  receive  his  crown, 
and  to  be  enrolled  among  the  brightest  and  most  faith- 
ful of  ministering  spirits. 

Rev.  Albert  A.  Folsom,  an  active  and  devoted 
minister,  was  born  in  Exeter,  and  passed  his  early  life 
in  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  He  had  settlements  in  Maine 
and  Massachusetts,  and  departed  this  life,  aged  39,  at 
Springfield,  Mass.,  in  1849,  after  a  ministry  there  of  five 
years.  He  was  very  acceptable  to  his  congregations, 
in  all  his  pastorates.  He  had  a  rich  voice,  subject  to  a 
wise  control,  was  a  ready  speaker,  and  could  acquit 
himself  in  a  most  happy  manner.  He  often  had  texts 
handed  him  when  entering  the  church,  which  he  dis- 
cussed to  the  evident  satisfaction  of  his  hearers.  He 
was  social  and  companionable,  and  his  views  of  life  and 
Providence  were  very  hopeful.  In  his  home  he  was  a 
light  and  blessing.  No  minister  ever  had  warmer 
friends  than  he. 

William  Cutter  Hanscom,  a  sincere  and  zealous 
young  man,  a  clerk  in  a  prominent  dry  goods  store  in 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  left  his  secular  pursuits  to  prepare 
himself  for  the  ministry  in  the  study  of  the  Rev.  T.  F. 
King  of  that  town.  He  was  soon  known  as  an  accept- 
able preacher,  and,  receiving  ordination,  was  called  to 
two  pastorates,  the  first  at  Newmarket  (Lamprey  River 
village)  N.  H.,  the  second  at  Waltham,  Mass.  He  had 
much  mental' ability,  was  a  vigorous  and  rapid  writer, 


172  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

and  an  energetic  and  enthusiastic  speaker.  He  was 
greatly  beloved  by  a  large  number  of  friends,  and  his 
pastorates  were  a  joy  to  him  and  of  much  profit  to  the 
churches.  He  was  an  evangelist  in  the  true  sense  of 
the  word.  His  career  was  short,  as  he  was  cut  off  by 
consumption,  at  Cambridgeport,  and  was  buried  at 
Waltham,  in  1838.  But  his  pathway  was  an  illumi- 
nated one,  and  its  light  lingers  in  many  memories.  He 
departed  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-three. 

Rev.  Merritt  Sanford,  born  in  Readsboro,  Vt., 
and  religiously  educated  in  the  Methodist  church,  be- 
came by  attentive  reading  and  much  anxious  thinking 
a  believer  in  that  divine  goodness  which  will  bring  all 
souls  at  last  in  conformity  to  its  will.  With  but  ordi- 
nary means  of  education  in  country  schools,  he  grew,  by 
close  mental  application  to  study,  to  be  a  scholar  of  very 
considerable  acquirements,  and  entered  the  ministry  at 
the  age  of  twenty-three.  He  was  minister  in  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Connecticut,  and  Massachusetts. 
He  was  a  quiet  but  forcible  preacher,  because  of  the 
soundness,  strength,  and  aptness  of  his  discourses.  He 
was  continually  growing  mentally  and  spiritually,  was 
deeply  conscientious  and  devout,  and  left  a  fragrant 
memory  wherever  he  sought  to  do  his  work.  He  closed 
his  earthly  life  after  a  short  illness,  in  Warren,  Mass., 
in  May  1849,  aged  37. 

Rev.  Alexander  R.  Abbott,  who  was  somewhat 
advanced  in  life  when  he  gave  himself  to  the  ministry, 
was  a  native  of  East  Livermore,  Me.  His  early  life  was 
that  of  a  hard  toiler,  his  advantages  for  obtaining  an 
education  were  limited,  but   his  thirst  for   knowledge 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  173 

overcame  his  early  deficiencies.  With  little  if  any  aid 
from  others,  he  became  proficient  in  French  and  Latin 
and  the  mathematics,  and  for  many  years  was  success- 
fully employed  in  teaching.  His  first  sermon  was 
preached  while  residing  in  Lowell,  Mass.,  in  1844,  and 
his  ordination  took  place  in  the  following  year.  His 
first  settlement  was  in  Bath,  N.  H.  For  a  time  he 
was  employed  as  a  missionary,  to  preach  in  destitute 
places  within  the  limits  of  the  Boston  Association. 
Afterwards  he  was  settled  successively  in  Newburyport, 
Mass.,  Pawtucket,  R.  I.,  Gardiner,  Me.,  South  Dedhara, 
Mass.,  Hudson,  N.  Y.,  and  Rockland,  Me.  He  was  an 
indefatigable  student,  and  a  clear,  strong  preacher. 
No  useless  verbiage  encumbered  his  discourses.  He 
grappled  with  the  hardest  questions  in  theology,  and 
brought  light  out  of  them.  His  last  sermon  before  the 
Maine  Convention  is  remembered  as  a  clear  and  mas- 
terly treatment  of  one  of  the  problems  which  has  greatly 
occupied  the  religious  thought  of  the  day.  He  stirred 
the  consciences  of  his  hearers.  He  was  outspoken  as 
an  anti-slavery  man,  when  to  be  so  was  to  incur  the 
hostility  of  men  of  both  political  parties,  and  endanger 
his  success  in  the  places  of  his  settlement.  The  tem- 
perance cause  always  found  in  him  a  firm,  consistent, 
and  able  advocate.  And  while  he  was  thus  efficient  in 
performing  the  more  rugged  duties  of  his  calling,  he 
was  equally  well-fitted,  by  the  tenderness  of  his  heart,  for 
the  more  sympathetic  offices  of  the  ministry.  The  death 
of  Mr.  Abbott,  at  Rockland,  Me.,  in  1869,  was  occasioned 
by  disease  of  the  heart,  aggravated  by  the  fracture  of  a 
limb.     He  was  conscious  and  composed  to  the  last. 

Rev.  Henry  C.  Leonard  came  into  the  ministry  at 


174  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

Haverhill,  Mass.,  where  he  had  studied  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Rev.  Henry  Bacon.  He  was  born  in  North  wood, 
N.  H.,  April  25,  1818,  and  died  at  Pigeon  Cove,  Mass., 
March  7,  1880.  His  earliest  labors  were  on  Cape 
Ann,  at  Gloucester  and  in  other  neighboring  places. 
He  was  afterwards  settled  four  years  in  East  Thomas- 
town  (now  Rockland),  Me.  He  then  removed  to  Orono 
in  1847,  where  he  remained  about  eight  years,  and 
then  went  to  Waterville,  in  1854.  At  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war,  in  1861,  he  closed  his  labors  in  Water- 
ville, and  accepted  the  position  of  chaplain  in  the  Third 
Maine  Infantry.  He  was  afterwards  transferred  to  the 
Maine  Eighteenth  Infantry,  and  then  to  the  First  Maine 
Regiment  of  Heavy  Artillery,  where  he  remained, 
greatly  beloved  by  officers  and  soldiers,  till  his  term  of 
service  expired  in  1864.  He  was  publicly  pronounced  by 
Gen.  Howard  the  most  faithful  chaplain  he  ever  saw. 

In  1865  he  took  charge  of  the  Uuiversalist  Society  in 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained  three  years.  He 
moved  to  Philadelphia  in  1869,  and  was  pastor  of  the 
Lombard  St.  Church  two  years.  He  then  returned  to 
his  home  at  Pigeon  Cove,  Mass.,  intending  to  remain 
there  permanently.  But  he  was  called  to  be  pastor  at 
Deering,  Me.,  and  was  Professor  of  Belles-lettres  at 
Westbrook  Seminary  at  the  same  time.  His  last  pastor- 
ate, at  Annisquam,  Mass.,  began  in  December,  1875.  He 
preached  for  the  last  time  Sept.  28,  1879.  He  was  for 
a  time  editor  of  the  "  Gospel  Banner"  and  of  the  "  Uui- 
versalist." He  published  a  volume  of  sermons  entitled 
"  A  Sheaf  from  a  Pastor's  Field ; "  also  a  little  work 
called  "  Pigeon  Cove  and  Vicinity." 

Mr.  Leonard  was  a  writer  of  rare  accomplishments. 
Had   he  chosen   literature  for  a  profession,  and    culti- 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  175 

vatecl  more  fully  his  rare  poetic  gifts,  his  name  might 
have  been  prominent  among  the  writers  of  the  countiy. 
He  was  an  enthusiastic  lover  of  nature,  and  delighted 
to  dwell  in  her  outer  temple.  He  had  a  sunny  nature, 
and  wherever  he  lived,  won  hosts  of  friends  by  his  geni- 
ality and  radiant  joyousness  of  heart.  The  truest,  most 
cultivated  and  intelligent  of  all  denominations  wel- 
comed him  to  their  companionship,  and  recognized  the 
purity  of  his  life,  the  elevation  of  his  thought,  and  his 
rare  intellectual  endowments. 

Rev.  Abraham  Norwood  began  preaching  in  An- 
nisquam,  Mass.,  and  was  ordained  in  1833.  He  had 
been  a  student  with  Rev.  Sylvanus  Cobb,  in  Maiden. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Congregationalist  Church  in 
early  life  ;  but,  finding  himself  dissatisfied  and  troubled 
with  his  theology,  he  gave  much  attention  to  the  study 
of  the  Bible,  and  became  thereby  a  firm  believer  in 
Christian  Universalism.  He  had  a  clear  and  vigorous 
intellect,  and  great  aptness  in  setting  forth  his  opinions. 
He  was  settled  in  South  Dennis  and  Marblehead,  Mass., 
in  Fiskville,  R.  I.,  in  Canton,  Mass.,  and  in  Salisbury, 
from  1845  to  1855.  He  then  went  to  Meriden,  Conn., 
and  acted  as  State  mission aiy,  with  rare  fidelity,  for  six 
years.  He  was  widely  known  in  Connecticut,  and,  after 
the  close  of  his  regular  ministerial  labors,  served  the 
town  of  Meriden  in  several  positions  of  trust.  He  was 
warmly  interested  in  education,  and  a  faithful  and  de- 
voted laborer  in  the  Temperance  cause.  Besides  his 
work  as  a  preacher  and  pastor,  be  wrote  and  published 
two  books,  —  "The  Book  of  Abraham,"  and  "  The  Pil- 
grimage of  a  Pilgrim."  While  marked  with  the  quaint- 
ness  of  the  author,  they  are  direct  and  telling  in  their 
setting  forth  of  Christian  truth. 


176  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Rev.  Charles  Spear  was  a  remarkable  man ;  a 
printer  by  trade,  a  philanthropist  by  nature,  a  self-sacri- 
ficing Christian  by  divine  grace.  He  was  quiet  and 
unostentatious,  but  persistent  as  fate  in  his  work.  He 
was  a  Massachusetts  man.  He  commenced  life  in 
humble  condition,  and  his  constant  liberality  to  every 
object  and  form  of  distress  kept  him  poor.  His  high 
religious  zeal  and  strong  philanthropy  forced  him  into 
the  ministry,  and  into  ministrations  especially  con- 
nected with  human  degradation  and  suffering :  the 
abandoned,  the  outcast,  the  down-trodden,  the  intem- 
perate, and  especially  the  prisoner,  were  his  parishioners. 
His  absence  of  mind,  forgetfulness  of  self,  and  disregard 
of  (if  not  inability  in)  pecuniary  matters,  often  sub- 
jected him  to  painful  embarrassments  when  from  home  ; 
but  that  Providence  on  which  he  relied  for  aid  as  for 
guidance,  always  provided  friends  and  means  to  deliver 
him.  Mr.  Spear's  work  on  Capital  Punishment,  and  his 
larger  one  on  the  "Titles  of  Jesus,"  are  readable  and 
valuable  books.  Besides  these,  his  literary  labors  pro- 
duced "  Voices  from  Prison,"  and  a  periodical  called 
(like  himself)  "  The  Prisoner's  Friend,"  extended 
through  several  years.  Had  he  belonged  to  almost  any 
other  denomination  than  the  Universalist,  he  would 
have  been  much  more  widely  known  and  more  highly 
praised  during  life,  and  his  death  would  have  been  an- 
nounced and  his  funeral  attended  with  greater  eulogy 
and  higher  honors.  Previous  to  his  death  he  had  been 
chaplain  in  the  St.  Elizabeth  Hospital  in  Washington, 
D.  C,  where  he  died  in  April,  1863.  His  wife  was  a 
faithful  helper  in  his  hospital  work.  His  funeral  ser- 
vices in  Washington  were  attended  by  a  Presbyterian 
(Dr.  Sunderland).  The  body  was  removed  to  Boston 
for  burial. 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  177 

Rev.  James  W.  Putnam,  who  died  in  Danvers, 
Mass.,  where  he  had  been  a  beloved  and  successful  pas- 
tor, was  a  man  of  admirable  qualities.  He  was  just 
past  forty  when  he  departed.  Rev.  Dr.  Miner  said  of 
him,  in  an  address  on  the  funeral  occasion,  that  he  had 
known  the  deceased  twenty-four  years  before,  when  a 
pupil  in  New  Hampshire,  —  a  boy  in  years,  but  a  man 
in  character :  — 

"  As  a  pastor  for  sixteen  years  in  one  parish,  where  he 
constantly  grew  in  strength,  in  the  affections  of  his  people,  in 
the  opportunities  for  public  usefulness,  serving  not  only  his 
parish,  but  the  town,  the  sure  test  of  his  worth  is  to  be  seen. 
His  character  was  so  well  rounded,  so  complete,  so  efficient 
in  all  particulars,  that  no  one  trait  seemed  to  predominate 
over  another.  He  was  very  modest  and  unassuming.  When 
Tufts  College  conferred  an  honorary  degree  upon  him,  it  was 
so  unexpected  that,  though  he  saw  the  statement  in  the 
papers,  —  saw  his  own  name,  —  he  did  not  suspect  that  it 
meant  himself,  but  some  other  person  !  He  had  given  the 
highest  evidence  of  his  hold  upon  his  people.  Twice  he  rep- 
resented the  town  in  the  legislature,  an  experience  which 
often  breaks  the  pastoral  relation  and  sows  the  seed  of  dis- 
affection. But  he  came  back  from  that  official  service  to  a 
united  parish." 

His  settlement  in  Danvers  was  his  only  one.  Calls 
to  other  parishes  with  strong  financial  inducements  were 
declined.  He  felt  that  the  pastoral  relation  should  be 
broken  as  seldom  as  possible,  a  consideration  which,  if 
more  generally  regarded,  would  be  of  great  blessing  to 
many  churches. 

Rev.  James  W.  Dennis  was  pastor  in  Stoughton, 
Mass.,  for  ten  years.    He  was  justly  and  highly  esteemed. 

12 


178  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Much  afflicted  with  a  painful  and  fatal  disease,  he  had 
great  conflict  of  mind  because  of  his  inability  to  meet  all 
his  duties  as  he  desired  ;  the  sympathies  of  his  people 
were  strongly  enlisted  in  his  behalf,  and  they  shared 
with  him  in  some  measure  his  trials.  He  died  in  the 
triumphs  of  the  unfailing  hope  of  the  Gospel,  and  was 
buried  by  his  friends  of  the  church  in  the  cemetery 
which  his  own  words  had  helped  to  consecrate.  "  It 
was  an  affecting  sight,"  writes  one,  speaking  of  his 
funeral  obsequies,  "and  a  sure  testimony  of  the  profound 
esteem  in  which  he  was  held.  Little  children,  tearful 
women,  and  strong  men  were  bowed  in  deepest  grief. 
I  shall  never  forget  the  appearance  of  one  old  patriarch 
who  approached  the  coffin  with  tottering  steps,  laid  his 
hand  upon  the  head  of  the  deceased,  and  then  placing  it 
upon  his  own  forehead,  turned  away  with  an  expression 
of  the  deepest  sadness,  as  though  he  had  lost  a  treasure 
never  to  be  replaced  in  this  world.  I  saw  him  again  at 
the  cemetery,  standing  at  the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  with 
eyes  suffused,  his  gray  hairs  fluttering  in  the  wind,  and 
his  head  bowed  in  the  attitude  of  prayer."  Mr.  Dennis 
died  in  1868,  aged  thirty-eight. 

Rev.  Henry  B.  Soule  was  of  Dover,  Duchess  Co., 
N.  Y.  He  was  another  instance  of  "  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge  under  difficulties  "  in  his  youthful  days.  He 
was  determined  to  educate  himself,  and  through  much 
anxiousness  and  privation  and  toiling  he  found  his  way 
in  1885  to  Clinton  Liberal  Institute  in  New  York,  where 
he  was  afterwards  a  tutor.  The  next  year  he  was  en- 
couraged to  prepare  for  the  ministry  by  his  kind  and 
honored  friend,  Rev.  S.  R.  Smith.  His  first  work  as  a 
pastor  was  at  Fort  Plain,  N.  Y.     He  was  subsequently 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  179 

at  Troy,  Utica,  and  in  1844  removed  to  Boston  and  be- 
came assistant  pastor  with  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou.  Here 
he  proved  himself  adequate  to  his  position.  His  ser- 
mons were  forcible,  well  arranged,  and  calculated  to 
convince  the  understanding  and  enlist  the  affections. 
A  year's  pastorate  in  Gloucester  was  a  happy  one. 
Then  he  was  minister  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  where  his  first 
sermon  was  preached  to  forty-one,  his  second  to  sixty- 
four  hearers,  and  his  last  to  a  crowded  house.  In  1852 
his  ministry  in  Lyons,  N.  Y.,  commenced.  At  the  end 
of  its  first  month  he  had  suddenly  departed,  —  a  victim 
of  that  fearful  disease,  small-pox.  But  his  bright  life 
shed  its  radiance  back  upon  many  souls  who  had  been, 
blest  by  his  ministries,  and  his  name  has  since  been  an 
honored  one  in  our  churches.  His  widow,  who  survived 
him,  has  won  an  honorable  reputation  in  our  church  by 
her  literary  publications,  and  by  her  devotion  to  our 
missionary  interests  under  the  auspices  of  the  Woman's 
Centenaiy  Association,  of  which  she  was  the  first  presi- 
dent, and  in  whose  employ  she  has  for  three  years 
labored  faithfully  as  a  missionary  in  Scotland.  An  in- 
teresting biography  of  her  husband  was  prepared  by  her 
and  given  to  the  public  in  1852. 

Rev.  Obadiah  H.  Tillotson,  of  New  Hampshire, 
was  an  active  worker  in  the  ministry  ;  a  successful  pas- 
tor in  Worcester,  Mass.,  Hartford,  Conn.,  Northfield,  Vt, 
and  in  other  places.  He  departed  this  life  in  1863.  He 
was  a  ready  speaker,  and  was  ardent  and  resolute  in  his 
ministerial  work.  "  His  ability,"  writes  a  friend,  "  as  a 
public  debater  was  signally  shown  in  a  protracted  dis- 
cussion (in  Worcester)  with  a  religious  opposer  who 
was  put  forward  to  defeat  him  if  possible.     Four  nights 


180  FIFTY  NOTABLE  YEARS. 

the  contest  went  on,  and  the  result  was  a  complete  suc- 
cess. He  more  than  met  the  expectations  of  his  friends, 
and  the  opponent  afterwards  acknowledged  that  of  all 
his  contests  (and  he  was  a  gladiator)  Mr.  Tillotson  was 
the  strongest  opponent  he  had  ever  met.  There  was 
much  of  sunshine  in  his  soul,  and  it  beamed  out  upon 
others  in  his  social  life.  For  a  time  he  studied  and 
practised  law,  but  his  old  love  for  the  ministry  return- 
ing, he  entered  it  again  with  renewed  zeal,  and  contin- 
ued earnest  and  faithful  in  its  work  unto  the  end. 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  181 


CHAPTER   XV. 

sketches  OP  MINISTERS  —  continued. 

"  Thus  bravely  live  heroic  men, 
A  consecrated  band ; 
Life  is  to  them  a  battlefield, 
Their  hearts  a  holy-land." 

TlJCKERMAN. 

AHIGHLY-esteemed  minister  of  our  faith,  and  a 
vigorous  and  stirring  advocate  of  Christian  reform, 
was  Rev.  Elhanan  W.  Reynolds.  Although  his  career 
as  minister  and  author  was  not  long,  the  most  valuable 
years  of  his  life  were  given  to  the  work  of  promulgating 
the  Gospel.  He  was  settled  as  pastor  in  Java,  Sherman, 
Buffalo,  Jamestown,  Watertown,  and  Lockport,  N.  Y. ; 
in  Norwich,  Conn.  ;  and  Lynn,  Mass.  He  was  a  highly 
acceptable  preacher,  and  wielded  a  fruitful  and  facile 
pen.  His  little  volume,  "  The  Records  of  Bubbleton 
Parish,"  is  one  of  much  interest  in  showing  as  it  does 
the  trials  of  Christian  ministers  and  parishes  because  of 
the  discordant  elements  in  them,  and  in  the  vividness 
with  which  some  of  the  characters  in  the  particular  par- 
ish at  Bubbleton  are  drawn.  But  his  best  work,  and 
one  that  evinces  unmistakably  the  strong  qualities  of  the 
writer's  intellect  and  the  soundness  of  his  orthodoxy  in 
morals,  is  his  volume  entitled  "  The  True  Story  of  the 
Barons  of  the  South  ;  or,  the  Rationale  of  the  American 


182  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Conflict,"  issued  in  1862.  It  is  a  compact  but  lively 
presentation  of  the  origin  and  growth  of  American  slav- 
ery, from  its  inception  with  the  Virginian  colonists  to 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  the  Rebellion.  It  is  an 
unequivocal  statement  of  facts,  and  an  irresistible  appeal 
to  Americans  for  the  overthrow  of  the  gigantic  abomi- 
nation of  slavery,  and  the  defence  and  maintenance  of 
that  freedom  signified  in  the  immortal  Declaration  sent 
out  by  our  Revolutionary  fathers  from  this  nation  to  all 
the  other  nations  of  the  earth.  It  is  one  of  the  trum- 
pet-calls to  duty  among  the  many  that  gave  inspiration 
and  life  to  that  desperate  strife  which  sent  American 
slavery  to  "the  receptacle  of  things  lost  on  earth."  Mr. 
Reynolds  is  worthy  of  honorable  remembrance  as  one  of 
the  heroes  of  that  strife.  A  discriminating  writer  has 
said  of  him  :  "As  a  preacher  he  was  strong  and  often 
brilliant ;  as  a  scholar  his  explorations  wTere  extensive, 
and  his  acquisitions  the  gold  refined  from  innumerable 
heaps  of  dross,  patiently  searched  out  ;  and  as  a  writer 
he  was  master  of  a  style  which  would  have  been  his 
passport  to  the  first  literary  circles  of  America."  He 
died  at  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  August  31,  1868,  aged  thirty- 
nine  years. 

Rev.  Nathaniel  Gunnison,  a  native  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, was  ordained  to  the  ministry  in  1837.  He  had 
entered  it  through  much  painstaking,  and  was  thor- 
oughly in  earnest  in  his  work.  He  was  pastor  in  New 
Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  and  Maine,  and  for  eight 
years  in  Halifax,  N.  S.,  in  which  place  he  met  with 
marked  success.  At  one  time  the  bishop  of  the  Episco- 
palian church  assailed  him,  and,  not  having  a  correct 
knowledge    of   our    doctrines,  laid    himself   open    to    a 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  183 

searching  review  from  Mr.  Gunnison.  The  controversy 
was  a  prolonged  one,  both  oral  and  written,  and  the 
result  was  that  the  Episcopal  church  lost  ground  and 
members,  and  the  Universalist  church  realized  a  corre- 
sponding increase.  The  civil  war  in  our  country  broke 
out  towards  the  close  of  Mr.  Gunnison's  pastorate. 
Halifax  being  in  strong  sympathy  with  the  South,  he 
stood  almost  alone  in  his  defence  of  the  North,  and  gave 
offence  to  some  of  the  leading  members  t)f  the  society 
by  his  zealous  exertions  for  the  North  while  acting  as 
Deputy  Consul  of  the  United  States.  He  subsequently 
removed  to  Maine,  where  he  died  of  paralysis  in  1871, 
while  in  the  midst  of  his  active  labors.  His  son,  Rev. 
A.  Gunnison,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  pays  this  touching 
tribute  to  his  honored  parent :  — 

"  At  the  age  of  fifty-seven,  the  pastor  of  whom  we  speak 
was  paralyzed.  Upon  the  early  morning  of  the  Sabbath,  the 
secret  blow  fell  upon  him,  but  yet  he  went  to  his  work,  and 
with  half  his  body  dead  went  through  his  Sabbath  service. 
Then  came  the  weary  months  of  battling  with  death.  Disease 
was  stayed  by  the  vigor  of  an  unconquerable  will,  and  drag- 
ging his  hea^y  limb,  with  right  arm  lifeless  at  his  side,  he 
took  up  again  the  burden  of  his  work.  .  .  .  The  other  day, 
in  the  lumber  of  a  storage  room,  we  found  the  old  trunk  which 
contained  the  sermons  of  this  veteran  preacher,  and  there 
upon  the  top  a  package  of  huge  MSS.  written  in  rude  fashion, 
unlike  the  singularly  clear  penmanship  of  the  remaining  mass. 
These  were  the  sermons  written  after  the  fell  shock  came  to 
him,  for  at  fifty-eight  3-ears  of  age,  finding  that  never  again 
could  the  accustomed  hand  hold  the  pen,  the  old  man  had 
with  his  left  hand  learned  to  write,  and  until  the  last,  week 
by  week,  the  fresh  sermon  came  quick  and  vital  from  a  brain 
which  would  not  cease  to  work." 


184  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

His  busy  ministry  of  thirty-four  years  was  a  Christian 
success. 

Rev.  John  Mather  Austin  was,  on  his  mother's 
side,  a  descendant  of  the  Mathers  distinguished  in  early 
colonial  times,  of  which  Cotton  Mather  is  best  known  in 
history.  He  was  born  in  Redfield,  Oswego  Co.,  N.  Y., 
Sept.  26,  1805,  and  died  in  Rochester,  Dec.  20,  1880. 
The  first  fifteen  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  Water- 
town,  N.  Y.,  to  which  place  his  parents  moved  during  his 
infancy.  He  learned  the  art  of  printing  in  early  life,  and 
while  employed  in  it  in  Troy,  N.  Y.,  he  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Universalist  society  in  that  place.  His  inter- 
est in  religious  truth  became  here  stimulated  to  activity, 
so  that  he  studied  for  the  ministry,  and  received  fel- 
lowship at  the  Hudson  River  Association  in  1832.  His 
first  pastorate  was  in  Montpelier,  Vt.,  his  next  in  South 
Danvers  (now  Peabody),  Mass.,  when,  after  a  pastorate 
there  of  nine  years,  he  was  settled  in  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  in 
1844.  In  1851  he  resigned  his  pastorate  in  Auburn, 
and  took  the  editorship  of  the  "  Christian  Ambassador," 
then  published  at  that  place. 

In  1861  Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State 
during  the  administration  of  President  Lincoln,  and  a 
firm  friend  of  Mr.  Austin,  tendered  him  the  consulship 
of  the  West  Indies,  which  was  declined.  The  consul- 
ship of  Prince  Edward's  Island  was  afterwards  offered 
him,  which  was  also  declined.  In  1863  a  commission 
was  sent  him,  signed  by  Secretary  of  War  Stanton,  by 
which  he  was  appointed  paymaster  in  the  army  with 
the  rank  of  major.  Mr.  Austin  was  reluctant  to  relin- 
quish his  work  in  the  ministry,  but  after  much  persua- 
sion he  entered  the  governmental  service  and  remained 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  185 

until  1866,  when  he  was  mustered  out.  After  leaving 
the  army  he  resumed  his  labors  in  the  ministry,  preach- 
ing occasionally  until  1875,  when  the  disease  began  to 
develop  which  ultimately  caused  his  death. 

For  many  years  Mr.  Austin  was  probably  the  most 
prominent  preacher  in  Central  New  York.  He  was  a 
profound  theologian,  and  a  preacher  and  debater  of 
great  power.  His  theological  discussion  at  Genoa  with 
Rev.  Mr.  Holmes  of  the  Methodist  church  gave  him  a 
wide  notoriety.  So  ably  conducted  was  it  on  the  part 
of  Mr.  Austin  that,  it  was  said,  many  who  heard  him 
were  converted  to  his  views. 

Secretary  Seward  at  one  time  began  to  write  a  life  of 
John  Quincy  Adams,  which  was  neglected  and  finally 
abandoned  for  want  of  time  to  complete  it.  At  the  re- 
quest of  Mr.  Seward,  Mr.  Austin  undertook  and  finished 
the  work.  He  was  the  author  of  several  books  of  merit ; 
among  them,  "  A  Voice  to  the  Young,"  "  Austin  on  the 
Attributes,"  "  Golden  Steps  for  the  Young,"  and  "  A 
Voice  to  the  Married."  Mr.  Austin  had  excellent  traits 
of  character.  His  mind  was  keenly  logical,  his  emo- 
tional nature  was  deep  and  strong,  and  his  social  quali- 
ties were  eminently  attractive. 

Rev.  Tobias  H.  Miller.      A  rare  man  was  he,  of 

clear  intellect,  unfailing  memoiy,  tenderest  sympathies, 
always  thinking,  always  ready  to  talk,  and  always  talk- 
ing well.  He  was  deeply  religious,  but  his  religion  was 
of  the  cheerful,  hopeful  kind.  He  was  born  and  had 
his  early  rearing  in  "  the  old  town  by  the  sea"  1  —  Ports- 
mouth, N.  H.,  and  was  blessed  with  the  watchful  care  of 
a  pious  and  faithful  mother.     He  was  early  instructed 

1  See  Harper's  Monthly  Mag.  for  October,  1874. 


186  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

in  the  Puritanic  orthodoxy  of  New  England,  and  grew 
up  to  be  an  approved  expounder  of  it.  For  a  time  he 
was  editor  of  the  "  Observer,"  the  Orthodox  weekly- 
journal  of  New  Hampshire,  and  was  a  kind  of  active 
adjutant-general  of  the  forces  of  that  division  of  the 
church  militant  in  his  native  State.  He  was  always  to 
be  trusted  in  his  work,  and  was  held  in  high  esteem  by 
all  his  brethren  as  by  all  who  best  knew  him.  In  later 
life  his  Scriptural  investigations  led  him  to  accept  the 
doctrine  of  Universalism  as  the  truth  of  God,  in  which 
doctrine  he  continued  as  an  acceptable  preacher  to  the 
end  of  his  days.  His  espousal  of  Universalism  did  not 
lessen  the  respect  of  his  former  brethren  for  him.  They 
never  seemed  to  doubt  the  purity  of  his  motives  nor  the 
excellency  of  his  Christian  character.  He  stood  in  their 
pulpits  from  time  to  time  during  his  later  years. 

He  was  a  devoted  Christian  reformer.  He  became 
interested  in  the  "  Washingtonian  "  temperance  move- 
ment in  Portsmouth  in  1841,  and  whenever  opportunity 
offered  gave  his  word  and  work  to  promote  the  cause  of 
total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicants.  In  the  anti-slav- 
ery agitation  his  voice  was  raised  for  freedom,  and  soon 
after  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation  made  by  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  he  repeated,  in  the  Universalist  pulpit  in 
Portsmouth,  an  address  which  he  wrote  and  delivered 
nearly  thirty  years  before  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
which  showed  how  accurately  he  had  forecast  the  future 
and  how  his  early  auguries  had  been  fulfilled. 

Being  a  practical  printer,  soon  after  his  arrival  at 
manhood,  while  in  Newbury  port  in  the  office  of  the 
"  Herald,"  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  John  G. 
Whittier  and  William  Lloyd  Garrison.  With  the  latter 
he  stood  side  by  side  at  the  printer's  case,  and  a  strong 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  187 

life-long  friendship  grew  np  between  them.     Mr.  Garri- 
son says  of  him  :  — 

"  He  was  a  veiy  Benjamin  Franklin  for  good  sense  and 
axiomatic  speech,  in  spirit  alwa}'s  as  fresh  and  pure  as  a  new- 
blown  rose.  His  nature  was  large,  generous,  sympathetic, 
self-denying,  reverent.  From  his  example  I  drew  moral  in- 
spiration, and  was  signally  aided  in  my  endeavors  after  ideal 
perfection  and  practical  goodness.  He  was  as  true  to  his 
highest  convictions  of  duty  as  the  needle  to  the  pole." 

Mr.  Miller  was  a  terse  and  ready  writer.  A  journal- 
ist speaks  of  him  as  one  "  who  with  a  stroke  of  his  pen 
would  illumine  dark  themes  and  confound  vain  phi- 
losophers, and  who  blended  the  clear  vision  of  a  Frank- 
lin with  the  modesty  of  a  child."  He  was  born  Aug. 
10,  1801,  and  died  in  Portsmouth,  March  30,  1870. 

Rev.  Martin  J.  Steere  was  originally  from  Rhode 
Island.  He  was  for  nearly  twent}^  years  a  minister  of 
marked  ability  and  excellent  reputation  in  the  Free 
Baptist  Church,  and  for  some  time  the  editor  of  its 
weekly  journal,  "  The  Morning  Star."  Given  to  scrip- 
tural investigation,  he  anxiously,  but  slowly  and  cau- 
tiously, reasoned  himself  into  Universalism.  Convinced 
that  this  was  the  New  Testament  Gospel,  it  was  his 
desire  to  make  known  the  pre-eminent  faith  to  others 
who  might  be  seeking  religious  truth.  He  soon  issued 
his  "  Footprints  Heavenward ;  or,  Universalism  the 
More  Excellent  Way  ;  "  a  volume  in  the  form  of  letters, 
addressed  to  his  former  brethren  in  the  ministry,  relating 
his  travail  of  mind  in  search  of  Christian  truth,  and 
stating  some  of  the  evidences  which  led  him  to  see  "  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus."     The  work  has  been  read  with 


188  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

interest  and  profit  by  many.  In  1859  Mr.  Steere  re- 
ceived the  fellowship  of  the  Universalist  Church,  and 
subsequently  had  pastorates  in  Maine,  Massachusetts, 
and  Connecticut.  He  was  a  vigorous  thinker,  plain, 
direct,  and  impressive  in  his  discoursing,  and  deeply 
devotional  in  spirit.  One  who  knew  him  has  written: 
"  The  continued  tone  of  his  spirit  was  restorative  to  the 
perplexed  and  desponding  ;  his  piety  was  cheerful,  his 
deportment  humble.  His  religion  was  his  life."  His 
death,  in  the  triumph  of  Christian  faith,  occurred  at 
Athol,  Mass.,  in  January,  1877. 

Rev.  Franklin  S.  Bliss  was  born  Sept.  30,  1828, 
in  Cheshire,  Mass.,  and  died  March  23,1873,  in  Greens- 
boro, N.  C,  whither  he  had  gone  for  the  benefit  of  his 
health.  At  the  age  of  ten  he  removed  with  his  family 
to  Lanesboro,  Mass.,  where  two  years  afterwards  his 
mother  died.  At  the  age  of  eight  an  illness  so  affected 
his  eyes  that  he  became  nearly  blind,  and  when  he  be- 
gan to  regain  his  sight  his  hearing  became  impaired. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen,  finding  he  could  see  by  using 
very  powerful  glasses,  he  applied  himself  to  close  study. 
Being  soon  prostrated,  twice  by  fever,  the  foundation 
was  laid  for  infirmities  which  attended  him  ever  after. 
He  became  a  believer  in  Universalism  while  on  a  sick 
bed,  but  did  not  avow  his  sentiments  until  some  time 
afterward,  when  he  resolved  to  enter  the  ministry. 
His  family  were  at  first  strongly  opposed  to  this  course 
on  his  part,  but  they  all  afterwards  became  pleased  with 
his  success  and  reputation  as  a  Gospel  minister.  After 
some  time  spent  in  school-teaching,  in  1853  he  entered 
the  Liberal  Institute  at  South  Woodstock,  Vt.  (then 
under  the  charge  of  Rev.  J.  S.  Lee),  at  which  time  he 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  189 

was  described  as  a  pale-faced,  feeble-looking  young  man, 
but  with  a  firm  will  and  settled  purpose  to  do  the  most 
and  the  best  that  was  possible  under  the  circumstances. 
His  decision  of  character,  concentration  of  purpose,  and 
love  for  the  work  of  his  chosen  profession,  overcame  all 
impediments,  compensated  for  lack  of  health,  and  ren- 
dered him  eminently  successful  and  useful  as  a  Gospel 
minister.  He  was  ordained  at  Enfield,  N.  H.,  in  1855,  in 
which  place  he  ministered  for  two  years.  Subsequently 
he  removed  to  Barre,  Vt.,  where  he  labored  for  fifteen 
years,  with  exemplary  fidelity  and  abundant  success. 
In  him  we  have  a  striking  instance  of  the  inward  force 
of  Christian  character  to  overcome  bodily  infirmities 
and  accomplish  wonders  in  that  ministry  whose  most 
eminent  apostle  said,  "  I  can  do  all  things  through 
Christ  who  strengtheneth  me." 

In  the  winter  of  1871,  Mr.  Bliss  sought  release  from 
pastoral  labor  and  care,  and  for  some  time  tried  a 
southern  climate  for  aid.  But  the  hope  proved  illu- 
sory. His  earthly  work  was  done,  and  well  done.  A 
friend  with  him  at  the  departure  writes  :  "  I  wish  you 
could  have  witnessed  his  last  da}rs  —  and  his  beautiful 
death.     It  was  glorious." 

Rev.  Russell  Tomlinson  had  a  long  and  unbroken 
pastorate  of  twenty-seven  years  in  Plymouth,  Mass. 
He  was  born  in  Newtown,  Conn.,  Oct.  1,  1808,  and  died 
in  Plymouth,  March  4,  1878.  In  his  early  ministry  he 
entered  the  field  as  a  missionary  in  Western  New  York, 
where  he  labored  for  two  years,  travelling  on  horseback 
hundreds  of  miles,  and  preaching  wherever  opportunity 
offered,  receiving  slender  compensation  for  his  services, 
and   often   none  at  all.     He  was  settled  at  Le  Roy, 


190  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Buffalo,  Ridge  way,  and  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  before  his 
removal  to  Plymouth.  He  resigned  his  charge  in  the 
latter  place  in  1866,  and  thenceforth  devoted  himself 
to  the  practice  of  medicine  of  the  Homoeopathic  School, 
to  which  he  had  previously  given  much  study,  obtain- 
ing a  fair  practice  and  a  good  reputation. 

Mr.  Tomlinson  was  a  very  positive  man,  of  strong 
will  and  inflexible  purpose.  He  was  of  such  dignified 
demeanor  that  strangers  were  likely  to  suppose  him 
cold  and  austere  in  his  nature  ;  but  those  who  knew 
him  intimately  speak  in  highest  terms  of  his  kind  and 
tender  heart,  that  was  instant  in  response  to  any  appeal 
from  the  unfortunate,  the  sick,  or  afflicted.  After  his 
decease,  instances  of  his  unostentatious  charity  came  to 
light  that  were  never  suspected  by  his  nearest  friends. 
He  was  strongly  interested  in  the  temperance  reform, 
and  was  through  life  an  earnest  and  unflinching  worker 
in  that  cause.  He  was  interested  and  active  in  educa- 
tional enterprises,  serving  for  many  years  on  the  school 
board  of  Plymouth,  and  under  Governor  Bout  well  he 
was  appointed  a  member  of  the  School  Board  of  Massa- 
chusetts. He  was  a  preacher  of  no  ordinary  talent,  an 
honest  and  devout  Christian,  a  faithful  worker  in  the 
Church,  to  the  end  that  he  might  induce  men  to  be- 
come followers  of  Him  whose  religion  is  not  in  "  the 
letter  that  killeth,  but  in  the  Spirit  that  giveth  life." 

Rev.  De  Witt  Clinton  Tomlinson  was  born  in 
Gaines,  Orleans  County,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  24,  1824,  and 
died  at  Wedron,  111.,  July  27,  1881.  He  prepared 
for  the  ministry  at  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  under  the  super- 
vision of  Rev.  Dr.  T.  J.  Sawyer,  and  began  to  preach 
in    1846.      He   had   twelve   pastorates   in   New    York 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  191 

and  at  the  West,  also  one  in  Boston,  Mass.,  during 
twenty  years  of  his  ministry.  He  was  at  Chicago, 
111.,  in  1880,  and  maintained  his  residence  there  until 
his  death.  He  was  a  vigorous,  fervent,  and  faithful 
man.  With  a  physique  that  seemed  to  defy  fatigue 
and  disease,  he  was  able  to  do  a  vast  amount  of  pastoral 
and  other  work.  He  had  a  peculiar  aptness  for  the 
financial  work  of  the  church.  He  was  employed  in  so- 
liciting aid  successively  for  the  Canton  Theological 
School,  for  the  Murray  Fund,  and  for  Buchtel  College 
in  Ohio,  and  his  labors  for  each  were  successful.  His 
last  employment  was  as  State  Superintendent  for  Illi- 
nois, in  which  he  was  engaged  nearly  up  to  the  time  of 
his  death.  In  the  midst  of  his  strength  and  usefulness, 
he  was  stricken  with  disease  at  a  grove  meeting,  where, 
although  slightly  indisposed,  he  preached  what  proved 
his  last  sermon.     His  work  had  been  well  done. 

Rev.  Levi  C.  Marvin,  born  in  Alstead,  N.  H.,  in 
1808,  was  one  of  those  energetic  men  who  achieve  their 
position  in  life  by  their  own  unaided  efforts.  His  first 
work  in  a  literary  course  beyond  the  common  schools 
was  done  in  an  academy  in  Chesterfield,  N.  H.,  in  the 
fall  of  1828.  The  next  year  he  is  a  teacher  in  Rhine- 
beck,  N.  Y.  In  1831,  being  invited  by  Rev.  I.  D.  Wil- 
liamson to  enter  his  household,  as  a  student  of  theolog}7, 
he  accepted,  and  after  some  months  commenced  preach- 
ing. He  was  ordained  in  18-34.  The  next  year  he 
removed  to  Newark,  N.  J.,  where  he  had  a  pastorate  of 
more  than  three  years,  when  he  went  to  Missouri,  and 
took  up  his  residence  in  Arrow  Rock,  Saline  County. 
A  few  years  later  found  him  a  resident  of  Booneville, 
Cooper  County,  where  he  held  a  discussion  with  Rev. 


192  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Mr.  Slocum,  a  Presbyterian.  The  discussion  embraced 
twelve  lectures  on  each  side,  and  extended  with  una- 
bated interest  through  six  weeks.  In  1848  he  removed 
to  Jacksonville,  111.,  where  he  had  a  discussion  with 
Rev.  C.  W.  Lewis,  Methodist.  In  1850  he  became  a 
resident  of  Springfield,  111.,  where  he  made  the  acquaint- 
ance and  secured  the  warm  personal  friendship  of  the 
late  President  Lincoln.  From  that  place,  in  1856,  he 
returned  to  Missouri,  and  made  in  Clinton  his  perma- 
nent home.  After  his  return  he  had  two  public  discus- 
sions :  one  at  Springfield,  111.,  with  Rev.  Mr.  Johnson, 
Campbellite,  and  the  other  at  Georgetown,  Mo.,  with 
Rev.  W.  W.  Suddath,  Presbyterian. 

Mr.  Marvin  was  an  exceedingly  hard  toiler.  Much 
of  his  ministry  was  spent  as  an  itinerant,  with  but  small 
remuneration,  so  that  extra  efforts  in  teaching  school 
were  necessary  on  his  part.  His  moral  uprightness,  his 
genial  nature  and  social  qualities  were  of  the  highest 
order,  and  secured  him  many  friends.  During  the  re- 
bellion he  was  a  strong  Union  man,  — the  only  man  in 
the  county  where  he  lived  who  gave  a  vote  for  Abraham 
Lincoln  for  President.  His  efforts  in  behalf  of  the 
Union  awakened  a  bitterness  of  feeling  often  endanger- 
ing his  person  and  life.  During  that  period  he  was  for 
two  sessions  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Missouri. 
At  one  session  he  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House. 
At  the  same  time  his  brother,  Hon.  A.  C.  Marvin,  was 
a  member  of  the  Senate  and  acting  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor. On  one  occasion  the  two  houses  met  for  the 
transaction  of  some  special  business,  when  the  unusual 
scene  occurred  of  two  brothers  presiding  over  the  joint 
session.  He  was  a  strong,  pure-minded,  and  conscien- 
tious Christian  reformer,  religiously  and  politically.    His 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  193 

last  days  of  long  confinement  and  much  pain  were 
cheered  with  the  hopeful  light  and  comfort  of  that  Gos- 
pel which  he  so  loved  to  commend  to  his  fellow-men. 
He  died  July  5,  1878. 

Rev.  Giles  Bailey,  born  in  Acworth,  N.  H.,  in  1815, 

was  a  diligent  scholar  and  an  able  preacher.  He  ac- 
quired considerable  knowledge  of  the  classics,  receiving 
instruction  from  Hon.  Horace  Maynard.  At  the  age 
of  seventeen  he  began  a  successful  career  as  a  school 
teacher  in  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,  and  was 
through  life  warmly  interested  in  educational  move- 
ments. After  pursuing  his  theological  studies  with  the 
late  Rev.  Lemuel  Willis,  he  was  ordained  in  Winthrop, 
Me.,  in  1810.  He  was  settled  in  Winthrop  for  two 
years,  then  moved  to  Brunswick,  where  he  remained 
seven  years,  then  lived  three  years  in  Oldtown,  three 
in  Dexter,  two  in  Claremont,  N.  H.  ;  then  returned  to 
Maine,  and  lived  eight  years  in  Gardiner  and  two  in 
Belfast,  and  finally,  in  the  fall  of  1869,  he  removed  to 
Reading,  Pa.,  where  after  nearly  nine  years  of  faithful 
labor,  he  closed  a  noble  and  useful  life. 

Adherence  to  right  and  principle  was  a  marked  fea- 
ture in  the  character  of  this  "  good  minister  of  Jesus 
Christ."  He  was  strongly  interested  in  all  reform 
movements,  and  the  energetic  boldness  of  his  position 
on  the  anti-slavery  question  is  well  remembered  by  his 
associates.  His  addresses  on  that  subject  were  so  filled 
with  burning  indignation  and  tender  pathos,  that  all 
hearts  were  stirred  by  his  eloquence.  In  addition  to 
his  regular  work  as  a  preacher  and  pastor,  he  was  a 
frequent  and  valuable  contributor  to  our  denomina- 
tional papers.     He  wrote,  many  years  ago,  a  series  of 

13 


194  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

letters  over  the  signature  of  "  Lucius,"  for  the  "  Chris- 
tian Ambassador,"  which  attracted  much  attention. 
They  revealed  unusual  literary  ability  and  grasp  of 
thought,  and  excited  much  curiosity  in  regard  to  their 
authorship.  For  a  time  he  occupied  the  editorial  chair 
of  the  "  Universalist."  He  has  left  a  clean,  manly,  and 
luminous  record. 

Rev.  John  E.  Palmer,  who  lived  to  the  great  age 
of  ninety  years,  was  a  native  of  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  He 
was  by  trade  a  printer,  and  became  a  convert  to  the 
doctrines  of  the  "  Christian  Baptists,"  under  the  minis- 
trations of  the  noted  Elias  Smith.  He  began  to  preach 
in  the  fellowship  of  that  sect,  and  was  ordained  in  1809. 
The  earlier  years  of  his  ministry  were  spent  in  Warren, 
N.  H.,  and  Danville,  Vt.  It  was  while  living  in  the 
latter  place  that  he  outgrew  his  early  belief  in  endless 
punishment,  and  came  to  an  undoubting  faith  that  God 
will  have  all  men  to  be  saved.  He  was  suddenly  ar- 
rested by  a  circumstance  which  called  his  attention  to 
a  comparison  of  his  own  faith  with  that  of  the  "  more 
excellent  way  "  in  which  afterwards  his  footsteps  were 
directed.  A  very  respectable  }'oung  man,  who  had 
never  been  converted,  while  on  a  fishing  excursion,  was 
drowned.  It  was  a  deeply  afflictive  blow  to  the  sur- 
viving family  and  friends.  Mr.  Palmer  knew  that  he 
should  be  called  upon  to  preach  the  funeral  sermon. 
He  was  greatly  distressed.  What  could  he  do?  The 
apostles,  he  saw,  had  a  faith  which  enabled  them  to 
comfort  those  who  were  "  in  any  trouble,  by  the  com- 
fort wherewith  they  themselves  were  comforted  of  God." 
Had  he  that  faith  ?  He  says  :  "  I  slept  not  a  wink  that 
night.     I  walked  the  house,  I  read  my  Bible,  I  prayed 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  195 

for  light ;  and  I  never  preached  the  doctrine  of  endless 
woe  again." 

In  1819  Mr.  Palmer  was  called  to  the  charge  of  the 
Universalist  Society  in  Barre,  Vt,  where  he  labored  for 
eighteen  years,  scattering  the  seed  of  truth  over  a 
wide  region,  for  he  was  an  indefatigable  missionary  all 
through  his  life.  On  leaving  Bane,  he  lived  two  years 
in  Waitsfield,  Vt.,  and  then  gave  himself  to  missionary 
work  in  Northern  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire.  One 
who  was  well  acquainted  with  his  ministry  writes  of 
him :  — 

"  We  can  vouch  for  the  devout,  evangelical  spirit  of  his 
services,  the  logic  of  his  sermons,  the  perspicuity  of  his  style, 
his  fluency  of  speech,  the  impressiveness  of  his  delivery.  He 
spoke  always  extemporaneously,  but  his  discourses  were 
always  coherent,  sound,  and  clear.  There  was  an  evident 
sincerity  and  earnestness  in  the  man  that  attracted  the  hear- 
er's attention,  and  there  was  a  natural  tremulousness  in  his 
voice  that  gave  a  peculiar  pathos  to  his  discourses.  There 
were  in  his  words  a  certain  indefinable  grace  and  force  which 
are  the  gift  of  God,  and  not  communicable  by  art  or  learning. 
He  was  a  man  of  deep  religious  feeling.  Though  he  had 
decided  opinions,  yet  he  was  the  soul  of  candor  and  forbear- 
ance in  his  treatment  of '  those  of  the  contrary  part.'  He  was 
a  faithful  and  true  witness." 

Rev.  William  W.  Wilson  was  of  Stoddard,  N.  H., 
born  in  1819.  An  accident,  by  which  he  lost  one  of  his 
hands  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  turned  his  attention  to 
books  and  stud}r.  He  was  educated  in  the  Orthodox 
faith,  as  it  is  called,  but  was  awakened  to  a  special  in- 
terest in  the  subject  of  religion  by  listening  to  the 
preaching  of  Rev.  J.  V.  Wilson  (not  a  relative)  in  his 


196  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

native  town.  Acquiring  an  academic  education,  and 
becoming  a  believer  in  Christian  Universalism,  he  began 
to  preach  at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  He  was  ordained 
in  1842  at  Laconia,  N.  H.,  preaching  in  that  town  about 
two  years.  He  was  afterwards  two  years  in  Centre 
Harbor,  four  years  in  West  Haverhill,  Mass.,  five  years 
in  Dover,  Me.,  and  in  Southbridge,  Mass.,  eight  years. 
In  1867  he  went  to  Chatham,  Mass.,  but  was  compelled 
by  ill-health  to  resign  his  charge.  In  1870  he  removed 
to  Oxford,  Mass.,  but  after  two  years  was  again  com- 
pelled to  rest.  In  1873  he  was  stricken  with  a  partial 
paralysis,  and  from  that  time,  though  not  entirely  help- 
less, was  unable  to  go  on  with  his  ministerial  work. 
However,  he  never  ceased  to  take  a  deep  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  his  parish  and  of  the  denomination.  He  was 
a  great  sufferer  during  the  last  days  of  his  life,  but  was 
constantly  hopeful  in  the  light  of  his  holy  faith.  He 
departed  this  life  June  19,  1874.  He  was  quite  well 
known  to  our  clergymen  in  New  England,  and  beloved 
and  honored  for  his  many  virtues  and  for  his  faithful 
ministry.  He  was  a  Christian  reformer,  was  genial  and 
utterly  sincere  in  all  his  work,  and  leaves  a  fragrant  and 
blessed  memory. 

Rev.  William  R.  Chamberlin,  born  in  Brookfield, 
N.  H.,  Nov.  2,  1816,  was  a  man  of  marked  ability,  and 
a  very  acceptable  preacher.  In  early  manhood  he  was 
a  successful  school-teacher.  He  was  ordained  as  a 
preacher  in  Dighton,  Mass.,  in  1847,  and  was  induced 
to  go  to  Abington,  Va.,  and  engage  in  missionary  work 
in  that  State.  For  two  years  he  preached  in  the  Vir- 
ginia backwoods,  —  in  its  highways  and  byways,  in 
school-houses,  mills,  and  log  cabins,  —  enduring  great 


SKETCHES    OF  MINISTERS.  197 

hardship,  encountering  many  dangers,  risking  his  life 
from  violence,  and  depending  for  support  solely  on  Di- 
vine Providence.  In  the  autumn  of  1849  he  went  to 
Cincinnati,  O.,  and  for  twelve  years  was  employed  as  a 
book-keeper.  But  though  engaged  during  the  week  in 
secular  pursuits,  his  activity  in  behalf  of  his  faith  did 
not  in  the  least  decline.  He  connected  himself  with  the 
Second  Universalist  Church  in  that  city,  and  for  three 
years  was  superintendent  of  its  Sunday  school.  Subse- 
quently he  became  superintendent  of  the  school  at  the 
First  Church,  and  held  the  position  for  seven  years.  It 
was  in  this  capacity  that  he  was  eminently  useful  and 
happy.  His  influence  over  children  was  unbounded  ; 
they  were  irresistibly  drawn  to  him.  He  had  a  most 
fertile  imagination,  and  was  ever  ready  with  stories  such 
as  children  love  to  hear.  He  laughed  and  wept  by 
turns,  and  with  these  emotions  the  school  was  always  in 
close  sympathy.  He  had  all  the  gifts  of  an  improvisa- 
tore  of  the  olden  time. 

Uneasy  in  his  work  out  of  the  ministry,  in  1867  he 
laid  aside  his  accountant's  pen,  and  entered  it  again. 
He  was  settled  successively  at  Mendota,  111.  ;  Vinton, 
Council  Bluffs,  and  Dubuque,  Iowa  ;  and  at  Clinton, 
N.  Y.,  at  which  last  place  he  closed  his  earthly  life. 
His  work  in  Clinton  was  very  successful.  He  attached 
his  people  to  him  by  his  amiable  disposition,  his  unselfish 
spirit,  and  devotion  to  his  work.  His  sermons  were 
always  compact  and  often  highly  polished.  Intellectual 
and  cultivated  people  always  admired  and  enjoyed 
them. 

When  in  1873  he  went  on  a  kind  of  missionary  tour 
to  England  and  Scotland,  wherever  he  preached,  his  ser- 
mons were  highly  spoken  of,  and  it  is  known  that  they 


198  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

impressed   on    those  who   heard    them  a  high   idea  of 
American  Universalism. 

For  the  last  three  or  four  years  of  his  life  he  was  a 
great  sufferer  from  an  incurable  disease,  but  he  worked 
steadily  on  until  nearly  the  end.  His  last  service  was 
held  in  his  own  house,  in  March,  1876,  when  he  arose 
from  his  sick-bed  and  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship 
to  twenty-one  persons,  baptizing  seven,  and  consecrating 
the  babe  of  a  friend.  The  announcement  of  his  physi- 
cian that  his  end  was  near  he  hailed  with  joy,  and  thus 
entered  into  the  heavenly  rest. 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  199 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

sketches  of  ministers  —  continued. 

"  Like  angels  sent  from  fields  above, 
Be  yours  to  shed  celestial  light." 

A.  Balfour. 

"D  EV.  SAMUEL  C.  LOVELAND  resided  nearly 
-*-^-  all  his  lifetime  in  Vermont.  He  was  born  in 
Gilsum,  N.  H.,  in  1787.  His  opportunities  for  school- 
ing while  young  were  but  few,  but  he  improved  them, 
as  he  had  a  strong  desire  for  study.  He  wished  to  be 
eminent  as  a  scholar  and  linguist,  but  from  force  of  cir- 
cumstances was  self-taught.  His  parents  had  become 
deeply  interested  in  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salvation 
about  the  time  of  Mr.  Winchester's  return  from  Eng- 
land, who  preached  a  few  times  in  the  region  where 
they  lived,  and  was  followed  soon  by  several  others. 
He  early  participated  with  them  in  their  religious  views 
and  feelings,  and  in  due  time  became  anxious  to  enter 
upon  his  studies  for  the  ministry.  To  this  end  he  began 
the  study  of  Greek.  But  as  there  were  no  books  in 
those  days  with  English  notes  and  definitions,  it  became 
requisite  first  to  study  Latin.  Finding  a  part  of  an  old 
Latin  Bible,  with  a  grammar  and  dictionary  he  plodded 
on  through  several  chapters.  By  close  application  he 
was  able  generally  to  read  out  a  whole  verse  in  half  a 


200  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

day.  Words  that  he  could  not  trace  were  carefully 
noted  dpwn  for  further  developments  to  bring  to  light. 
At  length  he  was  enabled  to  read  the  Greek  Testa- 
ment. He  received  fellowship  at  the  General  Conven- 
tion at  Cavendish,  Vt.,  1812.  He  afterwards  studied 
Hebrew,  and  prepared  and  published,  at  great  labor,  a 
Greek  and  English  lexicon  of  the  New  Testament.  The 
degree  of  A.  M.  was  conferred  on  him  by  Middlebury 
College.  He  afterwards  made  himself  quite  well  ac- 
quainted with  several  other  languages,  Chaldee,  Syriac, 
Arabic,  &c.  At  one  time  he  published  a  work  in  de- 
fence of  Universalism  entitled  "  The  Christian  Reposi- 
tory," which  was  commenced  at  Woodstock,  Vt.,  in 
1821.  The  work  afterwards  passed  into  other  hands, 
and  was  for  years  the  weekly  Universal ist  journal  of  the 
State.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  commenced  a 
reply  to  an  infidel  work  by  Robert  Taylor  of  England, 
entitled  "  The  Diegesis,"  in  the  columns  of  the  "  Star 
in  the  East,"  issued  at  Concord,  N.  H.  A  few  ably 
written  chapters  were,  issued,  when  he  was  forced  to 
relinquish  the  work  in  consequence  of  failing  health. 

In  1827  and  onward  he  became  interested  in  political 
affairs,  which  for  a  time  lessened  his  influence  as  a 
preacher.  But  he  was  conscientious  in  this  step.  His 
course  was  successful  and  honorable.  He  represented 
the  town  of  Reading,  Vt.,  in  the  State  legislature,  and 
his  county  in  the  council ;  he  was  a  judge  of  the  county 
court,  and  held  several  other  offices  of  honor  and  re- 
sponsibility. During  the  last  ten  or  more  years  of  his 
life  he  devoted  his  whole  time  to  his  books  and  the 
ministry.  He  died  at  South  Hartford,  N.  Y.,  of  paraly- 
sis,  April  8, 1854,  leaving  the  record  of  a  true  and  noble 
Christian  life. 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  201 

Rev.  David  Pickering  was  a  native  of  Richmond, 
N.  H.,  the  birth-place  of  the  elder  Hosea  Ballou.  He 
joined  the  Freewill  Baptists  at  an  early  age,  and  was 
very  active  in  their  meetings  and  in  the  promotion  of 
their  church  interests.  He  was  led  to  embrace  the  doc- 
trine of  Universalism  under  the  preaching  of  Rev.  Paul 
Dean,  in  Barre,  Vt.  He  entered  the  ministry  in  1809, 
a  very  acceptable  and  much  admired  preacher.  His 
first  settlements  were  in  Shrewsbury,  Vt.,  and  Lebanon, 
N.  H.  He  was  afterwards  in  Hudson,  N.  Y.,  and  in 
1823  took  charge  of  the  First  Universalist  Society  in 
Providence,  R.  I.,  where  he  remained  eight  or  ten  years. 
As  a  preacher  and  writer  he  had  few  equals.  He  com- 
piled and  published  a  hymn-book,  and  conducted  and 
edited  with  much  ability  a  Universalist  paper,  entitled 
"  The  Christian  Telescope,"  from  1824  to  1828  ;  also 
one  volume  of  "  The  Gospel  Preacher  "  in  1828.  While 
in  Providence,  he  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  in  favor 
and  in  defence  of  "  Revealed  Religion,"  which  were 
issued  in  book  form,  and  are  very  creditable  to  the 
author,  and  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  Christian 
Evidences.  Rev.  James  Wilson,  pastor  of  the  Broad 
Street  Congregational  Church  in  Providence,  had  made 
some  very  severe  statements  against  Mr.  Pickering's 
ministry,  and  advised  his  people  by  all  means  to  keep 
themselves  away  from  it.  When,  however,  this  volume 
was  published,  he  read  it  attentively,  and  took  occasion 
to  say  to  his  congregation  that,  whereas  he  had  warned 
them  against  the  preaching  of  Mr.  Pickering,  he  wished 
to  call  their  especial  attention  to  this  book,  and  assured 
them  that  the  reading  of  it  would  be  really  profitable 
to  them.  Mr.  Pickering  was  very  agreeable  in  social 
life,  and  had  many  warm  friends.     He  had  some  severe 


202  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

trials  in  his  last  days,  and  departed  this  life  in  Ypsilanti, 
Mich.,  Jan.  6, 1859. 

From  1830  to  1846  Rev.  Geoege  Rogers  was  an 
active  itinerant  and  sometimes  pastor  in  different  States 
of  the  Union.  He  was  at  first  with  the  Methodists, 
and  came  into  the  Universalist  ministry,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Philadelphia,  in  1830,  preaching  his  first  Universalist 
sermon  in  the  Lombard  Street  Church,  where  Rev. 
A.  C.  Thomas  was  pastor.  He  was  for  a  time  settled 
in  Brooklyn,  Pa.,  then  he  itinerated  in  the  States  of 
New  York  and  Connecticut ;  and  afterwards  journeyed 
West,  and  ministered  to  the  Universalist  Society  in 
Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Here  the  field  of  his  labors  widened 
indefinitely.  His  "  Memoranda,"  a  volume  full  of  inci- 
dent and  adventure,  issued  in  1815,  gives  us  the  account 
of  his  varied  experiences  in  city,  town,  country  place, 
and  wilderness  ;  from  New  England  to  New  Orleans,  from 
Pennsylvania  to  the  then  farthest  West,  preaching  the 
Gospel  of  God's  impartial  grace  in  all  available  places 
and  at  all  available  times  ;  holding  discussions,  meeting 
rebuffs  of  bigotry  and  the  pitiable  opposition  of  igno- 
rance and  sectarian  hate  ;  but  in  all  and  through  all 
self-possessed,  patient,  never  losing  heart  in  the  mission 
on  which  he  was  persuaded  his  heavenly  Father  had 
sent  him.  His  "  Memoranda  "  is  an  admirable  book 
for  the  family  library. 

Mr.  Rogers  had  great  aptness  in  adapting  himself  to 
circumstances  in  his  pioneer  work.  Sometimes  a  be- 
lated hearer  would  drop  in  when  he  was  half  through 
a  discourse,  and  interrupt  him  with  the  honest  question 
as  to  his  text  and  topic,  that  he  might  better  apprehend 
the  speaker's  message  ;  a  request  which  the  preacher 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  203 

would  very  kindly  answer,  and  then  proceed  with  his 
discoursing.  Once,  when  preaching  in  Lexington,  Ky., 
he  was  greatly  disturbed  by  people  going  out  after  he 
had  begun  his  sermon.  Suddenly  stopping  in  his  dis- 
course, he  said:  "My  friends,  I  have  always  noticed 
that  people  who  go  out  of  church  during  service,  as  a 
rule  have  more  brains  back  of  their  ears  than  they  have 
in  front  of  them  ;  and  if  you  don't  believe  it,  just  notice 
the  next  person  that  goes  out  !  "  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  no  persons  put  their  heads  up  for  examination  after 
that. 

Under  similar  circumstances,  when  once  preaching  in 
Baltimore,  he  said  :  "  My  friends,  if  any  person  here 
to-night  finds  himself  in  better  society  than  he  is  accus- 
tomed to  keep,  I  hope  he  will  try  to  endure  it  until  the 
services  are  out !  "  As  in  the  former  instance,  this  sharp 
rebuke  was  effectual. 

It  is  seldom  that  profanity  receives  so  sharp  and  witty 
a  reproof  as  was  administered  by  Mr.  Rogers  to  a  Ten- 
nessee boatman.  One  day,  when  seeking  for  a  place 
where  he  could  safely  ford  a  small  river,  he  sought  in- 
formation from  a  person  whom  he  saw  upon  the  oppo- 
site side,  and  the  following  dialogue  ensued  :  — 

Rogers.  — "  Hollo,  stranger !  Can  you  tell  me  if 
there  is  any  place  about  here  where  I  can  safely 
ford?" 

Stranger.  —  "  Go  to  hell !  " 

Rogers.  —  "  What  is  that  you  say  ?  " 

Stranger.  — "  Go  to  hell !  " 

Rogers.  —  "What?  Where  is  that  place  you  speak 
of?  I  am  a  stranger  in  these  parts  ;  can  I  reach  it  to- 
night?" 

This   witty  retort  so   amused   the  stranger   that  he 


204  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

courteously  told  Mr.  Rogers  that  he  was  the  ferryman, 
and  that  if  he  would  drive  back  to  the  ferry  he  would 
take  him  across.  When  subsequently  he  offered  the 
ferryman  the  accustomed  toll,  it  was  flatly  refused. 
"  No,"  said  the  ferryman,  "  I  take  no  toll  from  you. 
You  are  the  funniest  man  I  ever  rowed  across  this 
drink.  I  take  no  toll  from  you."  Thus  a  witty  answer 
turned  away  wrath. 

He  was  in  presence  a  modest,  meek  man,  with  thin 
voice  as  a  speaker,  but  clear  and  profound  in  his  dis- 
coursing, and  in  religious  debate  wary,  keen  and  pointed 
in  his  reasoning,  and,  like  Apollos,  "  mighty  in  the 
Scriptures."  Soon  after  his  last  visit  to  New  England, 
in  1846,  his  death  took  place  in  Cincinnati.  Rev.  A.  C. 
Thomas,  who  was  present  at  his  departure,  writes : 
"  The  valley  of  death  was  radiant  by  reason  of  the  glory 
beyond.  We  conveyed  his  body  to  the  quiet  burial 
ground  in  Delhi,  near  Cincinnati.  I  had  introduced 
him  to  the  Universalist  ministry,  and  it  fell  to  m}^  lot 
to  deliver  the  funeral  sermon.  A  monumental  obelisk 
was  placed  on  his  grave." 

Among  the  active  ministers  of  Universalism  in  the 
Southern  States  from  1831  to  1875  was  Rev.  Lewis  F. 
W.  Andrews,  M.  D.,  a  son  of  Rev.  John  Andrews,  an 
eminent  minister  and  journalist  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  He  was  favored  by  his  father  with  the  advan- 
tages of  a  classical  education,  and  received  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Medicine  at  Transylvania  University,  Lex- 
ington, Ky.  He  practised  as  a  ph}Tsician  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  and  in  the  region  round  about  Pittsburg,  Pa. 
His  attention  was  first  called  to  the  claims  of  Univer- 
salism  on  hearing  a  sermon  by  Rev.  J.  C.  Waldo,  in 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  205 

Augusta,  Ky.  Mr.  Andrews  had  requested  the  preacher 
to  discourse  on  the  parable  of  the  Sheep  and  Goats. 
He  did  not  suppose  the  minister  able  to  give  a  reason- 
able interpretation  of  it  in  the  light  of  the  Universalist 
faith.  He  was  greatly  disappointed,  however,  and 
though  he  came  a  doubter,  he  remained  to  accept  thank- 
fully and  joyfully  the  doctrine  of  the  preacher,  for  lie 
professed  to  have  been  converted  by  that  sermon.  He 
soon  afterwards,  by  the  aid  of  Rev.  Mr.  Waldo,  then  of 
Cincinnati,  entered  the  ministry,  and  in  1832  became 
pastor  of  the  Second  Universalist  Church  in  Philadel- 
phia. In  183-1  he  travelled  extensively  in  the  South, 
visiting  New  Orleans,  Mobile,  and  Montgomery.  In 
the  last-named  city  he  gathered  a  society  and  started  the 
"  Gospel  Evangelist,"  a  paper  which  was  subsequently 
moved  to  Charleston,  S.  C,  and  Dr.  Andrews  became 
pastor  of  the  Universalist  Society  in  that  city.  In 
1836-7  he  was  senior  editor  of  the  "  Southern  Pioneer 
and  Gospel  Visitor,"  then  published  in  Baltimore,  Md., 
it  having  been  founded  in  1832  by  Rev.  O.  A.  Skinner. 
After  this  removal  to  the  far  South,  Dr.  Andrews  pub- 
lished the  "  Evangelical  Universalist."  Like  that  persis- 
tent itinerant,  George  Rogers,  he  journeyed  extensively 
in  the  Southern  States,  preaching  wherever  a  door  of 
opportunity  was  opened  to  him.  The  "  Universalist 
Register  "  said  of  him  :  "  In  labors  abundant,  in  long 
and  frequent  missionary  journeys,  and  in  the  midst  of 
opposition  and  great  tribulations,  he,  like  our  other 
Southern  preachers,  had  to  fight  his  way  in  the  promul- 
gation of  the  doctrine  of  a  world's  salvation.  Dr. 
Andrews  was  steadfast  in  his  Universalism  to  the  last. 
He  was  generous,  free-hearted,  liberal,  almost  to  a  fault. 
His  prodigal  generosity  tended  to  improvidence.     The 


206  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

marked  trait  of  his  mind  was  activity.  All  he  could 
know  he  grasped  at  a  glance.  Hence,  though  not  pro- 
found, he  was  ready  for  all  encounters."  He  died  sud- 
denly at  his  home  in  Americus,  Ga.,  March  16,  1875,  in 
the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age. 

Rev.  Charles  W.  Mellen  was  a  worthy  minister 
and  pastor  in  Massachusetts  for  twenty-seven  years. 
Simple  and  unostentatious  in  his  manners,  he  was  thor- 
oughly consecrated  to  his  work.  A  clear  and  strong 
writer  and  impressive  speaker,  his  discourses  were  char- 
acterized by  sound  sense  and  earnestness.  He  worked 
from  love  of  his  calling.  He  was  hopeful  and  active  in 
the  temperance  and  anti-slavery  reforms,  and  was  a  son 
of  consolation  in  his  ministries  with  the  sorrowing,  af- 
flicted, and  bereaved,  who  looked  to  him  for  sympathy. 
He  passed  from  this  life  in  Taunton,  Mass.,  while  pastor 
there,  in  1866,  aged  forty-eight. 

Rev.  Henry  A.  Eaton  came  into  the  ministry  after 
having  been  a  devoted  and  faithful  member  of  the  Uni- 
versalist  Sunday-school  in  Maiden,  Mass.,  during  the 
pastorate  of  Rev.  J.  G.  Adams.  He  was  born  in  South 
Reading  (now  Wakefield),  Mass.,  Nov.  27,  1825,  the 
youngest  of  seven  children,  and  lost  his  mother  at  an 
early  age.  He  was  an  apt  scholar,  but  at  sixteen  was 
compelled  to  earn  his  livelihood,  which  he  did  by  serv- 
ing in  a  store  for  two  years,  and  afterwards  by  setting 
up  for  himself  in  Newburyport.  Resolving  to  enter  the 
ministry,  he  left  his  secular  employment,  and  spent  some 
time  in  Dr.  T.  J.  Sawyer's  Theological  Class  in  Clinton, 
N.  Y.,  and  studied  also  with  his  brother,  Rev.  E.  A. 
Eaton,  until  he   preached  his  first  sermon.      He   first 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  207 

settled  in  Hanson,  Mass.,  afterwards  at  East  Bridge- 
water,  Milford,  East  Cambridge,  and  Waltham,  Mass., 
and  in  Meriden,  Conn.  Overworking  and  injured  health 
compelled  most  of  these  changes,  for  in  each  place  he 
was  much  esteemed  for  his  labors  and  beloved  by  many- 
friends.  The  illness  and  decease  of  his  worthy  wife,  at 
East  Cambridge,  and  his  devoted  attention  to  her  night 
and  day,  exhausted  his  vital  powers,  and  bronchitis,  fol- 
lowed by  haemorrhage  from  the  lungs,  finally  compelled 
him  to  abandon  the  ministry.  He  retired  to  Worcester, 
and  engaged  in  business  for  the  support  of  himself  and 
children,  struggling  manfully  with  various  difficulties. 
Having  provided  for  his  children,  and  arranged  all  his 
affairs,  he  calmly  met  death,  cheered  and  strengthened 
by  the  unfailing  hope  of  the  Gospel,  May  20,  1861,  in 
the  thirty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  man  of  deep 
consecration,  of  most  attractive  social  qualities,  whose 
memory  will  be  sacredly  cherished  by  those  who  best 
knew  him.  His  only  son,  Rev.  Charles  H.  Eaton,  is 
the  successor  of  Rev.  Dr.  Chapin  in  the  ministry  of  the 
Fourth  Universalist  Church  in  New  York  city. 

Rev.  TV.  A.  P.  Dillingham  was  a  son  of  Maine,  and 
a  graduate  of  the  Harvard  Divinity  School.  He  had 
pastoral  settlements  in  Augusta,  Waterville,  Dover,  and 
Xoriidgewock,  Me.,  and  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  For  a  time 
he  became  interested  in  the  Swedenborgian  Church,  and 
entered  its  ministry,  but  without  changing  his  views  as 
to  the  final  destiny  of  men.  While  in  this  connection, 
he  writes  :  "  I  never  preached  the  eternity  of  the  hells, 
nor  any  doctrine  inconsistent  with  the  divine  benevo- 
lence, and  I  never  heard  Universalism  or  Universalists 
attacked  or  spoken  of  in  derogatory  terms  as  to  their 


20 S  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

moral  influence  by  some  church  people,  without  putting 
in  a  square  defence  of  those  whom  I  knew  only  to  re- 
spect, and  who  had  treated  me  with  a  consideration 
beyond  my  deserts."  In  due  time  he  returned  to  his 
own  church,  with  the  honest  confession  that  he  had 
found  no  better,  more  conscientious,  spiritual,  intellect- 
ual, or  tolerant  people  than  those  he  had  left.  While 
in  Waterville,  he  represented  the  town  for  two  years, 
and  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
the  second  year.  Other  positions  of  public  trust  were 
held  by  him,  all  of  which  he  honored.  He  was  active 
in  business,  "  fervent  in  spirit,"  and  devoutly  religious. 
Few  men  had  better  qualities  for  a  public  speaker. 
With  a  tall,  dignified,  imposing  presence,  and  a  voice  of 
extraordinary  compass,  richness,  and  power,  his  speech 
was  impressive  and  effective.  He  was  suddenly  stricken 
down  with  acute  pneumonia,  and  died  in  1871,  aged 
forty-six. 

A  comparatively  brief  but  very  active  ministry  was 
that  of  John  Glass  Bartholomew,  D.  D.  He  was 
born  in  Pompey,  Onondaga  Co.,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  28,  1834. 
He  had  the  benefit  of  a  good  common  school  and  aca- 
demical education,  was  a  lover  of  books  and  of  in- 
tellectual effort.  His  parents  being  Universalists,  he 
was  sent  to  the  Clinton  Liberal  Institute,  and  after  a 
time  prepared  himself  for  the  ministry.  He  first 
preached  in  his  native  town  in  1853  to  great  acceptance, 
those  who  heard  him  being  quite  convinced  that  he  had 
not  mistaken  his  calling.  After  preaching  for  a  i'ew 
years  in  Upper  Lisle,  Broome  Co.,  in  Oxford,  Chenango 
Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  in  the  city  of  Aurora,  111.,  he  became 
pastor  of  the  Universalist  Society  in  Roxbury,  Mass., 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  209 

where  his  ministry  continued  from  July,  1860,  to  Janu- 
ary, 1866.  During  this  pastorate  the  parish  was  carried 
prosperously  through  a  season  of  peculiar  trial,  and  the 
membership  of  both  the  church  and  society  considerably 
increased.  In  the  year  last  named  he  accepted  the  in- 
vitation of  the  Greene  Avenue  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
to  become  their  ministei\  The  expectations  of  those 
who  had  called  him  were  high,  and  his  pulpit  efforts 
fully  met  them,  but  adverse  circumstances  prevented 
that  prosperity  all  were  desiring.  The  church  building 
was  inadequate  to  the  occasion,  and  a  failure  to  unite 
with  a  remnant  of  the  old  "  Church  of  the  Restoration  " 
so  disheartened  the  minister  that  he  turned  to  a  new 
field  of  work  to  which  he  had  been  invited  in  Auburn, 
N.  Y.  His  ministry  here  was  highly  successful.  His 
influence  reached  beyond  the  city  in  which  he  labored, 
rendering  his  work  peculiarly  attractive.  He  subse- 
quently removed  to  Syracuse,  where  for  some  months  he 
highly  enjoyed  his  pastorate.  His  biographer,  Dr.  I.  M. 
Atwood,  writes  of  him  :  "  Crowds  flocked  to  his  minis- 
trations, and  he  seemed  animated  by  extraordinary  ener- 
gies. But  gradually  he  became  aware  of  some  insidious 
malady  repeating  its  attacks  on  his  vigorous  constitu- 
tion." He  sought  various  means  to  master  it,  but  in 
vain.  Once  or  twice  he  rallied,  under  new  treatment 
and  diet,  and  came  up  surprisingly.  He  made  a  visit  of 
two  weeks  to  his  old  friends  in  Roxbuiy  and  Boston, 
but  was  all  the  time  failing,  and  with  difficulty  reached 
his  home  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  where  he  departed  for  the 
better  life,  April  14,  1874.  His  mind  was  on  his  work 
to  the  last,  but  the  unfailing  hope  cheered  and  sustained 
him.  He  was  a  preacher  of  remarkably  magnetic 
power. 

14 


210  FIFTY  NOTABLE  YEARS. 

One  of  the  most  noted  of  Christian  ministers  in  the 
present  century  was  Rev.  Edwin  Hubbell  Chapin, 
D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  of  the  Universalist  Church.  He  was  born 
in  Union  Village,  Washington  County,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  29, 
1814,  and  died  Dec.  26,  1880,  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
In  his  childhood  he  became  a  resident,  with  his  parents, 
of  Vermont,  where  he  received  his  academic  course  of 
studies  in  Bennington.  His  father,  a  rigid  Calvinist, 
trained  his  son  in  the  traditional  theology  of  their  an- 
cestors ;  but  the  creed  proved  too  narrow  for  him  to  be 
satisfied  with  it.  In  1880,  while  with  his  father  (an 
artist),  who  was  on  a  professional  visit  to  Utica,  N.  Y., 
he  first  had  access  to  a  collection  of  books  teaching  a 
more  consistent  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  which 
he  read  with  avidity.  He  attended  the  church  of  our 
larger  faith  there,  and  in  due  time  became  convinced 
that  Christian  Universalism  was  the  Gospel  of  the  New 
Testament.  After  attending  to  the  study  of  the  law 
for  a  short  time,  he  gave  it  up,  and  accepted  the  posi- 
tion of  associate  editor  of  the  "  Evangelical  Magazine 
and  Gospel  Advocate."  His  powers  as  a  speaker  and 
thinker  soon  becoming  evident,  he  was  urged  to  enter 
the  ministry,  which  after  much  serious  and  anxious  re- 
flection he  concluded  to  do,  and  began  his  preparation 
accordingly.  His  first  sermon  was  delivered  in  a  barn 
at  Litchfield,  and  he  continued  preaching  in  the  vicinity 
until  his  ordination  in  1837.  In  May,  1838,  he  became 
pastor  of  the  "  Independent  Christian  Church,"  com- 
posed of  Universalists  and  Unitarians,  in  Richmond,  Va. 
In  1839,  on  his  way  to  the  meeting  of  the  General 
Convention,  Mr.  Chapin  attended  the  funeral  of  Rev. 
Thomas  F.  King,  at  the  Universalist  Church  in  Charles- 
town,  Mass.,  where  Mr.  King  had  been  pastor.     Com- 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  211 

plying  with  an  invitation  to  preach  in  the  church  in  the 
evening,  the  result  was  an  invitation  for  him  to  supply 
the  pulpit  for  three  months.  In  December,  1840,  he 
was  installed  as  pastor  there.  He  was  next  invited  to 
become  colleague  of  the  venerable  Hosea  Ballou,  in  the 
School  Street  Church,  Boston,  and  was  installed  there 
Nov.  28,1845.  Finally,  he  became  pastor  of  the  Fourth 
New  York  Society,  and  remained  so  until  his  death. 
He  first  occupied  the  pulpit  of  the  Murray  Street 
Church,  but  this  proving  too  small,  the  society  moved 
to  All  Souls  Church  in  Broadway,  where  it  grew  to 
such  proportions  that  a  new  and  costly  edifice  was 
erected  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  Avenue  and  Forty-fifth 
Street,  dedicated  Dec.  2,  1866,  and  named  the  "  Church 
of  the  Divine  Paternity."  During  the  years  of  his 
matured  strength  he  ministered  to  his  people,  while 
thousands  of  every  name  and  creed  came  from  near  and 
far  to  listen  to  his  eloquent  words.  Here  on  Palm  Sun- 
day, March  21, 1880,  he  preached  the  last  time  on  earth. 
And  here  on  December  30  was  gathered  the  most  august 
assembly  that  ever  sought  to  honor  the  memory  of  an 
American  clergyman,  every  Christian  sect  of  the  city 
being  represented  at  the  altar  by  its  ablest  divines,  while 
great  numbers  of  men  and  women  of  all  denominations 
turned  away  unable  to  gain  admittance  to  his  obsequies. 
In  the  other  churches  where  he  had  been  pastor,  memo- 
rial services  were  held. 

The  public  life  of  Dr.  Chapin  was  one  of  incessant 
action.  He  was  not  merely  a  church  preacher.  As 
another  has  written  of  him  :  — 

"His  was  a  divided  throne  between  the  pulpit  and  the 
platform.     For  man}-  years  he  was  active  in  the  temperance 


212  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

and  other  reforms,  and  his  magnetic  eloquence  made  him 
sought  hy  all  associations  of  the  kind  that  desired  the  pres- 
ence of  a  crowd  and  a  stirring  and  persuasive  appeal.  Then 
for  five-and-twenty  years  he  was  one  of  the  most  prominent 
of  a  long  catalogue  of  lecturers  whom  ever}'  lyceuin  must 
hear." 1 

In  his  memorial  address  in  Boston,  Dr.  Miner  thus 
alluded  to  the  aptness  and  force  of  his  appeals  :  — 

"  I  remember  on  one  occasion,  in  the  suburbs  of  Boston, 
when,  after  discussing  in  a  somewhat  general  way  the  great 
waste  occasioned  by  intemperance,  he  asked  his  auditory  to 
reflect  upon  the  waste  that  would  be  involved  in  gathering 
up  the  cereals  of  the  Commonwealth,  converting  them  into 
whiske}',  taking  the  whiskey  down  to  the  end  of  Long  Wharf, 
knocking  in  the  heads  of  the  barrels,  and  spilling  the  whole 
into  the  dock ;  and,  said  he,  '  would  it  be  any  less  a  waste 
if  you  were  to  strain  that  whiskey  through  human  stomachs, 
and  spoil  the  strainer  ?  '  What  more  telling  exhibition  of 
the  vital  diabolism  of  the  whole  business  of  making  and  drink- 
ing whiskey  than  is  involved  in  that  simple  illustration." 

The  address  of  Dr.  Chapin  before  the  Peace  Congress 
at  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  in  1850,  surpassing  every 
other  of  the  occasion  in  eloquence  and  power,  made  his 
name  known  through  Europe,  and  placed  him  among 
the  greatest  orators  in  the  world.  His  religious  char- 
acter was  deep  and  strong,  an  embodiment  of  consecra- 
tion to  Christian  principle. 

The  volumes  containing  Dr.  Chapin's  sermons,  ora- 
tions, and  addresses  are  so  many,  and  their  character 
in  substance  and  style  so  uniformly  attractive,  that  we 
hardly  dare  venture  on   quotations  from  them,  even  if 

1  Rev.  Dr.  T.  J.  Sawyer. 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  213 

space  were  allowed  us.  As  a  specimen,  however,  Ave 
present  his  strong  and  glowing  words  in  conclusion  of 
his  Fourth  of  July  oration,  in  1851,  at  the  Crystal 
Palace,  in  New  York  city. 

"  Men  constitute  eras.  Washington  himself  was  the  em- 
bodiment of  the  Revolution,  and  may  fitly  personate  to  other 
men  and  other  ages  the  principles  of  that  movement.  But 
let  not  even  the  greatness  of  Washington  overshadow  the 
merits  of  the  least  of  those  who  labored  and  sacrificed  in  that 
earl)'  struggle.  Come  up  before  us  to-day  from  many  a 
battle-ground,  from  many  a  post  of  duty  ;  from  the  perilous 
enterprise  and  the  lonely  night-watch  !  The  pageant  of  this 
hour  sinks  from  my  sight.  This  temple  of  industry,  with  all 
its  emblems  of  civilization,  dissolves  into  thin  air.  These 
tokens  of  a  great  and  prosperous  people  pass  away.  This 
magnificent  city  dwindles  to  a  provincial  town.  I  am  stand- 
ing now  upon  some  village  green,  on  an  early  summer  morn- 
ing, when  the  dew  is  on  the  grass,  and  the  sun  just  tips  the 
hills.  I  see  before  me  a  little  band  clothed  in  the  garb  that 
is  now  so  venerable.  There  are  the  cocked  hat,  the  conti- 
nental coat,  the  well-worn  musket.  They  have  turned  away 
from  their  homes  ;  they  have  turned  from  the  fields  of  their 
toil ;  they  have  heard  the  great  call  of  freedom  and  of 
duty,  and  before  God  and  man  the}r  are  ready.  Hark ! 
it  is  the  tap  of  a  drum,  and  they  move  forward  to  the  tre- 
mendous issue.  That  drum-beat  echoes  around  the  world  ! 
That  movement  was  the  march  of  an  irresistible  Idea  —  the 
Idea  of  the  spiritual  worth  and  the  inalienable  rights  of  every 
man  :  out  of  which  grow  the  stability  of  nations,  and  the  unity 
of  the  world." 

A  more  positive  and  thorough  expositor  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Universalism  could  not  be  heard  from  the  pulpit 
than  Dr.  Chapin.     This  has  been  acknowledged  on  all 


214  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

hands  by  those  who  were  most  constant  and  attentive 
listeners  to  him.  But  the  great  aim  of  his  ministry  was 
to  make  men  know  and  feel  the  power  of  the  inner  life 
of  the  Gospel.  He  distinctly  states  this  in  the  first 
published  volume  of  his  discourses  :  — 

"  The  great  end  of  preaching  is  to  reform  the  life,  to  recon- 
cile man  to  duty  and  to  God.  The  great  principle  to  be 
propagated  and  established  in  the  souls  of  men  is  not  this  or 
that  particular  ism,  but  the  spirit  of  Christ.  Without  this 
no  denomination  can  be  right,  no  society  can  flourish,  no  soul 
can  live." 

Mr.  Chapin  was  a  poet  as  well  as  an  orator.  Some  of 
his  hymns,  long  used  in  our  church  services,  are  of  great 
merit,  having  the  beauty  of  Moore  with  the  spiritual 
fervor  of  Charles  Wesley.  The  writer  takes  pleasure 
in  transcribing  one  of  them  for  these  pages,  which  was 
written  from  a  sense  of  duty,  and  at  the  close  of  a  very 
hot  day  in  July,  when  we  had  been  very  diligently 
at  work  on  the  new  Hymn  Book,  compiled  by  us  jointly 
for  Mr.  Abel  Tompkins,  publisher,  in  1845.  We  were 
about  to  make  up  the  last  package  of  matter  for  the 
press.  The  writer  had  prepared  one  or  two  hymns  ex- 
pressly for  the  book,  while  such  of  Mr.  Chapin's  as  had 
a  place  in  it,  were  selected  from  papers  and  church  ser- 
vice programmes  of  the  time.  He  was  urged  to  write 
one  then  wanted  for  the  miscellaneous  department  of 
the  book,  the  subject  to  be,  "  During  or  After  a  De- 
structive Storm."  Wearied  as  he  was,  he  consented, 
and  standing  at  the  desk,  wholly  absorbed  in  his 
theme,  soon  brought  out  the  following,  which  speaks 
for  itself :  — 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  215 

"Amid  surrounding  gloom  and  waste, 

From  nature's  face  we  flee, 
And  in  our  fear  and  wonder  haste, 

O  nature's  Life,  to  thee ! 
Thy  ways  are  in  the  mighty  deep, 

In  tempests  as  they  blow  ; 
In  floods  that  o'er  our  treasures  sweep ; 

The  lightning  and  the  snow. 

"  Though  earth  upon  its  axis  reels, 

And  heaven  is  veiled  in  wrath, 
Not  one  of  nature's  million  wheels 

Breaks  its  appointed  path. 
Fixed  in  thy  grasp,  the  sources  meet 

Of  beauty  and  of  awe ; 
In  storm  or  calm,  all  pulses  beat 

True  to  the  central  law. 

"  Thou  art  that  law,  whose  will  thus  done, 

In  seeming  wreck  and  blight, 
Sends  the  calm  planets  round  the  sun, 

And  pours  the  moon's  soft  light. 
We  trust  thy  love  ;  thou  best  dost  know 

The  universal  peace, 
How  long  the  stormy  force  should  blow, 

And  when  the  flood  should  cease. 

"And  though  around  our  path  some  form 

Of  mystery  ever  lies, 
And  life  is  like  the  calm  and  storm 

That  checker  earth  and  skies,  — 
Through  all  its  mingling  joy  and  dread, 

Permit  us,  Holy  One, 
By  faith  to  see  the  golden  thread 

Of  thy  great  purpose  run." 

The  closing  of  the  life  of  this  eminent  man  was  in 
accordance  with  his  whole  ministry.  At  his  funeral 
services  in  the  Church  of  the  Divine  Paternity,  Rev. 
Dr.  Armitage,  of  New  York  city,  in  a  most  impressive 
address  to  the  congregation,  took  occasion  to  speak  of 
an  interview  with  him  in  his  extreme  weakness:  — 


216  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

' ' '  Doctor,  do  j'ou  realize  now  the  sweetness  of  the  prom- 
ise of  Christ  in  your  broken  condition  ? '  He  looked  at  me 
with  the  simplicity  of  a  babe ;  but  I  saw  a  tear  moisten  his 
eye  and  a  little  tremulousness  mingled  with  his  voice,  and  he 
said,  '  My  dear  brother,  what  should  I  do  without  Christ. 
Christ  is  eveiything  to  me  now.'  So  he  spoke  of  the  loving 
Redeemer.  I  said, '  Well,  then,  may  I  have  this  consolation, 
Doctor,  of  knowing  that  jxm,  who  have  been  in  the  ministiy 
so  long,  labored  so  hard,  done  so  much  to  lift  up  other  minds 
and  pour  consolation  into  disconsolate  hearts,  that  you  to-da}r 
realize  the  same  breadth  and  fulness  and  sweetness  of  con- 
solation in  Christ  that  you  have  ministered  to  others  ? '  He 
simply  made  this  answer :  '  Doctor,  Christ  to  me  is  all  in 
all.' 

' '  I  asked  him  if  it  would  be  pleasant  to  have  a  word  of 
prayer.  He  made  an  effort  to  rise,  as  if  he  greeted  the  prop- 
osition with  great  joy.  I  said,  'No,  Doctor,  3011  can't  rise; 
do  nothing ;  lie  quietly,  and  I  will  kneel  at  your  side  with 
nry  hands  in  yours.  Let  us  give  each  other  to  God  our  Father 
to-day.'  He  said,  '  Well,  we  will.'  I  bent  at  his  side,  and 
with  such  simplicit}'  and  brotherly  love  and  confidence  in  God 
as  I  could  summon,  sought  the  blessing  of  heaven  upon  him. 
He  joined  in  the  pra}Ter  ;  he  buried  his  brow  in  one  hand,  and 
held  my  hand  with  the  other.  He  seemed  to  glow  with  love. 
I  asked  the  Lord  to  give  him  strength,  and,  if  possible,  to 
spare  him  to  the  church,  and  presented  those  wishes  at  the 
Throne  of  Grace  which  any  of  your  hearts  would  prompt 
under  similar  circumstances.  At  the  close  of  a  brief  praj'er, 
as  I  said,  '  Lord,  Lord,  grant  these  things  to  thy  servant,  for 
Jesus  Christ's  sake,'  holding  nry  hand  with  a  firm  grip,  and 
lifting  up  his  eyes  towards  heaven,  in  the  same  ringing,  fer- 
vent, strong  voice  that  3-011  have  heard  so  often  from  his  lips, 
his  whole  nature  said,  '  Amen.' " 

In   1856  Harvard   College   conferred  upon  him    the 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  217 

honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  and  Tufts  Col- 
lege that  of  Doctor  of  Laws  in  1878.1 

During  twenty-five  years  Rev.  Joseph  D.  Pierce 
was  pastor  of  the  Universalist  Church  in  North  Attle- 
boro,  Mass.  He  was  born  in  North  Scituate,  Mass.,  Nov. 
15,  1815,  and  died  in  North  Attleboro,  Nov.  1(3,  1880. 
During  his  minority  his  educational  advantages  were 
limited  to  the  public  schools.  After  serving  an  appren- 
ticeship as  a  carpenter,  he  entered  the  Derby  Academy 
in  Hingham.  He  taught  in  the  public  schools,  devoting 
his  leisure  to  reading  and  study.  Resolved  on  entering 
the  ministry,  he  began  his  preparatory  studies  with 
Rev.  Hosea  Ballou,  2d,  in  Medford,  Mass.  His  first 
sermon  was  preached  in  East  Boston,  in  1839.  He  then 
supplied  the  pulpits  in  South  Dedham  and  East  Boston 
for  a  year,  and  was  ordained  in  1841.  He  was  first 
settled  at  Hartland,  Vt.,  where  he  also  taught  school, 
remaining  until  May,  1845,  when  he  was  called  to 
North  Attleboro.  After  a  pastorate  here  of  one  year, 
failing  health  induced  him  to  abandon  regular  preach- 
ing and  engage  in  teaching.  He  became  principal  of 
the  Attleboro  Academy,  continuing  to  some  extent  his 
pastoral  work,  and  occasionally  supplying  at  West 
Wrentham.  In  1850  he  took  charge  of  the  Universal- 
ist parish  in  Claremont,  N.  H.,  where  he  preached, 
teaching  school  also  most  of  the  time  for  five  years. 
He  also  served  as  a  member  of  the  school  committee  in 
that  town,  and  discharged  the  duties  of  his  office  with 
such  marked  ability  and  benefit  to  the   schools   that, 

1  For  a  more  particular  acquaintance  with  the  life  and  character  of 
Dr.  Chapin,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  excellent  Memoir  of  him  by 
Rev.  S.  Ellis,  D.  D.,  just  issued  by  the  Universalist  Publishing  House. 


218  FIFTY  NOT  ABIE   YEARS. 

upon  hearing  of  his  intent  to  remove  to  Massachu- 
setts, a  deacon  of  the  Baptist  Church  said,  "  We  cannot 
get  along  without  him."  By  a  unanimous  invitation 
from  the  parish  in  North  Attleboro,  he  was  again  settled 
there  in  1855,  where  he  remained  until  his  death.  He 
was  representative  of  Attleboro  in  the  State  Legislature 
for  18G8,  and  served  his  constituents  with  credit.  He 
was  an  untiring  student,  logical  in  thought  and  method, 
and  an  effective  preacher.  He  had  great  modesty,  and 
never  sought  for  oratorical  display.  His  heart  and  hand 
were  given  to  every  good  work.  He  was  feeble  in 
health,  and  endured  much  physical  suffering.  He  once 
said  that  he  had  not  known  a  waking  hour  free  from 
pain  for  fifteen  years,  yet  his  religious  trust  and  unsub- 
dued spirit  sustained  him  through  a  life  of  unremitting 
toil. 

• 
Rev.  Thomas  J.  Carney,  of  Dresden,  Me.,  was  a 
minister  of  varied  experiences,  and  a  useful  laborer  in 
the  Gospel  field.  He  was  taught  the  gospel  of  uni- 
versal grace  and  salvation  in  the  home  of  his  childhood. 
He  travelled  over  the  States  extensively  in  youth,  and 
visited  the  West  Indies,  and  afterwards  studied  for  the 
ministry.  The  last  years  of  his  life  were  spent  as  pastor 
and  missionary  in  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Illinois. 
He  extended  his  journeyings  and  missionary  work  to 
Missouri  and  Kansas,  and  visited  New  Mexico.  He 
was  a  man  of  strong  convictions,  and  an  earnest  advo- 
cate of  the  doctrine  which  he  loved.  He  made  many 
friends,  and  well  deserved  them.  Four  church  edifices 
are  standing  as  monuments  of  his  faithfulness.  He  -was 
fatally  injured  by  a  fall  from  his  horse,  and  died  at 
Buffalo,  111.,  in  1871.     His  wife  was,  before  her  mar- 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  219 

riage,  Miss  Julia  A.  Fletcher,  a  well  known   and  very 
acceptable  writer  in  our  church  and  to  the  public. 

Rev.  James  Mukroe  Cook  was  born  in  Marcellus, 
Onondaga  County,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  24,  1818.  He  was  a 
favorite  in  the  family  circle,  and  kindly  regarded  by  his 
schoolmates  and  teachers.  At  an  early  age  he  was  a 
diligent  student  of  the  Scriptures,  and  before  he  was 
fifteen  years  of  age  was  not  unfrequently  engaged  in 
defending  the  doctrine  which  he  afterwards  preached, 
and  laboring  to  show  to  unbelievers  its  consistency  and 
attractiveness. 

In  1837  he  came  to  Rochester,  N.  Y.,and  commenced 
his  studies  for  the  ministry  with  Rev.  George  Sanderson. 
He  was  a  diligent  student,  and  had  a  remarkably  reten- 
tive memory.  His  first  sermon  was  preached  in  Gates, 
near  Rochester,  in  October,  1837.  He  had  pastorates 
in  Chili,  Church ville,  Perrinton,  and  Victor,  N.  Y.  In 
November,  1845,  he  entered  upon  his  duties  as  pastor 
of  the  Second  Universalist  Society  in  Providence,  R.  I. 
Through  discouraging  circumstances  in  the  beginning 
of  his  work  here,  he  went  forward  with  great  faith  and 
earnestness,  and  realized  a  successful  ministry.  His 
pastorate  in  Providence  continued  four  years,  when,  in 
November,  1849,  he  took  charge  of  the  Universalist 
Society  in  Baltimore,  Md.  His  good  reputation  in  Prov- 
idence had  preceded  him,  and  he  was  warmly  welcomed 
by  his  new  friends.  They  were  highly  pleased  with  his 
pulpit  ministries,  and  the  services  in  the  church  were 
well  attended,  and  his  popularity  in  the  city  was  in- 
creasing. But  the  society  had  a  heavy  debt  upon  it, 
and  looked  to  Mr.  Cook  as  the  chief  instrumentality  in 
the  removal  of  it.     He  saw  what  was  before  him,  and 


220  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

realized  the  discouraging  magnitude  of  the  work.  But 
he  would  not  shrink  from  what  was  expected  of  him, 
and  entered  upon  the  effort  with  a  bravery  that  over- 
came all  obstacles,  and  secured  the  end  desired,  —  the 
removal  of  the  debt.  But,  alas  !  the  strain  had  been 
too  great ;  his  strength  gave  way,  and  in  the  midst  of  his 
usefulness  he  was  called  to  the  higher  life.  He  died  in 
calm  resignation,  and  in  strongest  hope  of  entering  his 
final  and  immortal  home. 

Of  his  ministry,  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Whittemore,  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  in  1850,  wrote  :  — 

"  As  a  preacher  he  excelled  in  certain  respects.  He  was 
a  man  to  move  the  masses.  He  spoke  without  writing,  and 
delivered  his  message  of  divine  truth  with  great  power.  He 
aimed  not  at  elegant  words  and  polished  sentences,  but  to 
speak  the  truth  in  demonstration  of  the  spirit.  He  aimed  to 
reach  the  heart.  He  would  keep  the  attention  of  a  thousand 
people  fixed  intently  upon  his  theme  through  a  long  discourse. 
His  sermon,  delivered  in  the  Warren  Street  Church,  daring 
the  session  of  the  United  States  Convention  in  Boston,  in 
1845,  is  an  illustration  of  the  truth  of  what  we  say.  There 
an  immense  auditory  listened  to  him  with  the  greatest  inter- 
est for  a  long  time,  for  they  were  unconscious  of  its  rapid 
flight.  The}r  caught  his  feelings,  they  rejoiced  with  him, 
they  wept  with  him,  and  at  the  close  the  general  expression 
of  the  people  was,  '  that  was  the  Gospel,  that  came  from  the 
preacher's  heart  and  reached  our  hearts.' " 

Cut  off  in  the  midst  of  his  years,  his  memory  is  a 
blessing  for  what  he  was  enabled  during  his  short  life 
to  accomplish. 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  221 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

SKETCHES    OF   MINISTERS continued. 

"As  ye  go,  preach,  saying,  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand." — Jesus. 

\  FERVENT  and  devoted  servant  of  the  Christian 
-^*-  Master  was  Rev.  A.  W.  Bruce.  Born  in  Benning- 
ton, Vt.,  he  was  taught  the  Methodist  faith,  and  held  it 
until  his  nineteenth  year,  when  by  his  own  diligent  inves- 
tigations he  became  a  believer  in  Universalism.  After 
practising  as  a  physician  for  a  short  time,  he  entered  the 
ministry,  and  became  an  indefatigable  and  successful 
worker  therein.  He  was  ordained  in  1843,  had  settle- 
ments in  New  England  and  in  three  of  the  Western 
States,  and  died  in  Lafayette,  Ind.  in  1871,  leaving  a 
good  name  in  the  churches  and  with  all  who  knew  of 
his  work  for  human  reform,  and  were  co-operators  with 
him. 

Rev.  Frederick  A.  Hodsdon  was  a  native  of  Ber- 
wick, Me.  In  his  childhood  his  parents  removed  to 
Kenduskeag,  where  his  early  years  were  mostly  spent. 
When  but  eighteen  years  of  age,  he  was  the  subject  of 
religious  impressions,  and  gave  himself  by  personal  con- 
secration to  the  service  of  Christ.  He  became  a  Uni- 
versalist  in  spirit  as  well  as  in  belief,  and  resolved  to 
devote  his  life  to  the  ministry.     He  was  a  student  with 


222  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Dods  and  Rev.  S.  Cobb,  D.  D.  His  first 
settlement  was  in  Readfield,  Me.,  his  next  in  Danvers, 
Mass.,  his  third  in  Goffstown,  N.  H.,  and  from  his  la- 
bors here  there  came  the  church  now  existing  in  Man- 
chester. He  was  next  in  Kenduskeag,  his  old  home, 
where  he  purchased  a  place  of  residence,  and  was  for  a 
time  pastor  of  the  society  there.  In  1839  he  preached 
the  sermon  at  the  dedication  of  the  Universalist  church 
in  Belfast,  and  was  unanimously  invited  to  become  pas- 
tor of  the  societjr;  but  was  obliged  to  decline  on  ac- 
count of  previous  engagements.  A  few  years  after  he 
accepted  a  second  invitation  to  the  place,  where  his 
ministry  was  very  prosperous.  In  1849  he  acted  as 
General  Agent  for  the  Maine  Universalist  Missionary, 
Educational,  and  Tract  Societies.  In  1850  he  accepted 
a  call  to  New  Haven,  Conn.,  where  his  labors  were 
highly  successful.  Failing  health  compelled  him  to  re- 
sign his  charge,  and  return  to  his  home  in  Maine.  He 
did  not  however,  relinquish  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
but  preached  at  times  in  different  places,  until,  on  re- 
covering his  strength,  he  was  induced  to  become  again 
minister  of  the  society  in  Belfast,  where  he  continued 
for  most  of  the  time  until  he  was  obliged  to  abandon 
the  active  work  of  his  calling.  He  was  for  a  little  time 
Chaplain  of  the  24th  Maine  Regiment,  and  minister  to 
the  Second  Society  in  Portland.  Before  his  departure 
he  had  a  long  and  painful  sickness,  through  which  his 
strong  faith  sustained  him.  He  died  Aug.  19,  1869, 
aged  64  years. 

Mr.  Hodsdon  was  one  of  the  most  faithful  and  hon- 
ored of  our  ministers.  His  convictions  were  strong,  his 
motives  the  purest,  his  preaching  clear,  earnest,  and  con- 
vincing.    A    devout    man    himself,    he    made    others 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  223 

devout  and  prayerful.  The  cause  of  vital  religion 
prospered  under  his  ministry.  Of  attractive  and  com- 
manding personal  appearance,  courteous  in  manners 
and  Christian  in  spirit,  he  won  the  hearts  of  old  and 
young,  and  made  hosts  of  friends  wherever  he  resided 
or  was  known.  The  savor  of  his  noble  life  still  lingers 
in  the  churches  which  enjoyed  his  ministrations. 

Rev.  Ezekiel  W.  Coffin  was  one  of  the  truly  faith- 
ful of  the  ministerial  fraternity.  He  came  from  Gilead, 
Me.,  where  he  was  born  August  14,  1810.  His  parents 
were  Methodists,  but  in  his  youth  his  attention  was 
called  to  the  doctrines  of  Universalism  by  the  preaching 
of  Rev.  Sylvanus  Cobb.  He  afterwards  resolved  to  de- 
vote himself  to  the  ministry.  He  was  a  student  with 
Rev.  Mr.  Averill  of  Edclington,  Me.,  and  was  ordained 
June,  1840.  He  was  first  settled  at  Centre  Harbor, 
N.  H.,  for  four  years  ;  then  at  Weymouth,  Mass.,  then  at 
Canton  St.  Church,  Boston  ;  afterwards  at  North  Attle- 
boro,  Annisquam,  Beverly  and  Shirley,  Mass.,  Jaffrey, 
N.  H.,  Bryant's  Pond,  Me.,  Orange,  Mass.,  West  Con- 
cord, Vt.,  and  Bernardston,  Mass.  His  ministerial  life 
included  about  forty-three  years. 

Those  who  knew  Mr.  Coffin  bear  ample  testimony  to 
his  many  excellent  traits,  both  as  a  minister  and  a  man  ; 
that  he  lived  the  doctrine  which  he  taught,  and  that  in 
his  last  sickness  "  he  gave  the  whole  community  a  les- 
son of  patience  and  resignation  in  suffering."  His  ill- 
ness extended  over  a  period  of  three  and  a  half  years, 
and  was  very  painful ;  but  he  never  lost  his  faith  and 
courage.  After  he  had  become  so  helpless  that  he 
could  not  walk,  or  even  stand,  he  still  continued  his 
work.     Faithful  friends  bore  him  in  his  chair  to  the  pul- 


224  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

pit  on  each  returning  Sunday,  and  for  more  than  two 
years  he  thus, —  like  Father  Murray  in  his  last  preach- 
ing days,  —  delivered  his  testimony  while  sitting. 
Weak  in  body,  but  strong  and  upraised  in  spirit,  he  gave 
his  testimony  to  his  people  inspired  with  that  glorious 
apostolic  assurance,  "  For  all  flesh  is  as  grass,  and  all  the 
glory  of  man  as  the  flower  of  grass.  But  the  word  of 
the  Lord  endureth  forever.  And  this  is  the  word  which 
by  the  Gospel  is  preached  unto  you." 

Rev.  Edward  Augustus  Drew  was  for  a  few  years 
a  useful  minister.  He  was  born  in  Plymouth,  Mass., 
Nov.  22, 1845,  and  died  in  Lynn,  Mass.,  Oct.  11, 1874,  in 
the  twenty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  very  studious 
from  early  life.  Graduating  from  the  High  School  in 
his  native  town,  he  entered  Tufts  College  in  the  autumn 
of  1863.  To  assist  in  defraying  his  expenses,  he  was 
obliged  to  teach  during  the  winters,  and  by  his  ambition 
and  perseverance  he  took  many  prizes,  besides  graduat- 
ing at  the  head  of  the  class  of  1867.  He  then  became  a 
teacher  of  the  ancient  languages  in  the  Medford  (Mass.) 
High  School,  where  he  remained  two  years.  In  1869 
he  became  Principal  of  the  Green  Mountain  Institute, 
now  known  as  the  Green  Mountain  Perkins  Academy, 
at  South  Woodstock,  Vt.  He  afterwards  took  the  posi- 
tion of  Chase  Classical  Instructor  at  Dean  Academy, 
which  he  occupied  until  the  summer  of  1871,  when  the 
conviction  that  he  should  enter  the  ministry  induced  him 
to  enter  Tufts  Divinity  School,  where  he  graduated  in 
June,  1872.  He  was  first  settled  as  pastor  of  the  Uni- 
versalist  Church  in  Newburyport,  Mass.,  and  in  one  year 
afterwards  became  pastor  of  the  Second  Universalist 
Society  in  Lynn,  where  he  remained  until  his  death. 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  225 

His  labors  were  blessed  with  excellent  results,  but  his 
course  was  impeded  by  failing  health.  Another  has 
written  of  him  :  — 

"  He  was  highly  appreciated  and  esteemed  as  a  preacher 
of  the  Gospel.  His  manner  was  pleasing,  his  language  well 
chosen,  his  thoughts  clearly  presented,  his  illustrations  ap- 
propriate, often  the  fruit  of  his  scholarly  reading  and  taste  ; 
and  there  was  a  blending  of  the  doctrinal,  practical,  and  spir- 
itual in  his  discourses  that  made  his  preaching  both  instructive 
and  inspiring,  and  adapted  to  interest  and  benefit  all  classes  of 
hearers.  Outside  of  his  own  church  he  was  greatly  esteemed 
and  beloved." 

Rev.  Norris  Coleman  Hodgdon  was  born  in  Epping, 
N.  H.,  Aug.  22,  1818.  His  means  of  education  in  the 
beginning  of  life  were  limited,  but  he  was  fond  of  books 
and  study,  and  earnest  and  persevering  in  his  search  for 
knowledge.  After  becoming  a  conscientious  believer 
in  the  faith  of  Universalism,  he  made  every  effort  to 
strengthen  his  own  convictions,  and  to  awaken  the  at- 
tention of  others  to  the  claims  of  Christian  truth.  He 
preached  his  first  sermon  July  23,  1841.  He  then 
preached  a  short  time  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  Philadelphia, 
New  York,  and  Brooklyn  ;  went  to  Maine  in  1843,  and 
was  ordained  in  Paris,  December  28,  of  the  same  year. 
He  preached  in  that  vicinity  for  a  short  time,  and  then 
awhile  in  Ludlow,  Vt.  He  was  afterwards  settled  in 
East  Randolph,  Chester,  Jacksonville,  and  Vernon,  Vt., 
in  Kingston,  N.  H.,  Harvard,  South  Dedham,  Marlbor- 
ough, and  Foxborough,  Mass.  His  last  settlement  was 
for  one  year  in  Pittsfield,  Me.  While  living  in  Vernon, 
Vt.,  he  compiled  and  published  a  book  called  "A  De- 
nominational Offering  from  the  Literature  of  Universal- 

15 


226  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

ism."  It  contains  extracts  from  different  writers  in 
exposition  and  enforcement  of  the  doctrine  and  spirit  of 
Universalism,  and  has  been  well  received.  While  at- 
tending a  meeting  near  Wilton,  Me.,  in  1877,  he  was 
stricken  with  paralysis,  from  which  he  rallied,  and  was 
able  for  a  while  to  read  and  write  and  visit  his  friends. 
He  moved  to  Benton  after  his  illness,  where  he  passed 
the  last  years  of  his  life.  He  was  a  faithful,  earnest  man 
and  minister. 

Rev.  S.  P.  Landers,  of  Central  New  York,  entered 
the  ministry  in  1836.  He  was  for  a  little  time  in  An- 
dover,  Mass.,  and  in  1841  began  his  work  as  pastor  in 
Worcester,  where  he  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Univer- 
salist  church  in  that  city.  He  afterwards  resided  in 
West  Cambridge  (now  Arlington),  preaching  on  Sun- 
days, and  devoting  his  other  time  chiefly  to  his  favorite 
pursuit,  horticulture,  and  to  the  interests  of  a  private 
seminary  established  by  members  of  his  own  household. 
He  was  highly  esteemed  for  his  many  virtues.  "  His 
whole  family,"  writes  his  daughter,  "  are  Universalists, 
and  have  been  since  Universalism  as  such  has  been 
known  in  the  land.  In  his  native  town  (Afton,  N.  Y.) 
half  the  Universalists  are  named  Landers,  or  are  related 
to  them." 

Rev.  John  Nichols,  of  Cohasset,  Mass.,  had  pastor- 
ates in  different  places  in  Massachusetts,  and  in  Clare- 
mont,  N.  H.  He  was  pastor  in  Holliston  nine  and  in 
Beverly  ten  years,  and  while  in  the  former  place  repre- 
sented the  town  in  the  Legislature  of  1818-9.  He  was 
a  pure-minded,  warm-hearted,  toiling  man.  In  every 
one  of  his  settlements  he  wrought  a  good  work,  and  the 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  227 

influence  of  his  character  and  deeds  made  not  only  the 
minister,  but  the  cause  he  represented,  respected.  He 
was  in  sympathy  with  every  moral  reform,  but  was 
called  suddenly  away.  While  preaching  his  last  dis- 
course in  Beverly,  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis,  from 
which  he  never  recovered,  his  farewell  sermon  being 
thus  his  farewell  to  earthly  scenes. 

Rev.  Robert  Killam  was  another  faithful,  modest, 
and  earnest  man.  His  pastorates  were  in  three  consid- 
erable towns  in  Massachusetts.  He  closed  his  earthly 
work  in  West  Scituate  in  1866,  aged  seventy-six.  He 
was  a  Bible  Christian,  a  plain  and  clear  expositor,  prac- 
tical in  his  preaching  as  in  his  daily  conduct.  Another 
writes  of  him  :  "  He  early  saw  and  illustrated  the  duty 
of  applying  the  Gospel  to  all  the  affairs  of  life.  He 
joined  the  advancing  hosts  in  the  grave  questions  which 
have  convulsed  the  nation,  his  countenance  aglow  with 
youthful  fire  when  he  argued  the  equal  rights  of  man." 

Rev.  Charles  Henry  Webster  was  born  in  George- 
town, Mass.,  Dec.  5,  1817.  He  was  from  early  life  fond 
of  books  and  study,  and  determined  if  possible  to  obtain 
a  liberal  education.  But  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  while 
attending  school  at  Bradford  (Mass.)  Academy,  he  was 
accidentally  injured  in  one  of  his  eyes,  and  did  not  fully 
recover  for  some  years.  He  was  afterwards  able  to 
prepare  for  the  ministry  at  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  and  was  first 
settled  at  Beverly,  Mass.  ;  afterwards  at  East  Lexing- 
ton, South  Dedham,  East  Boston,  Chicopee,  Mass. ;  at 
Auburn  and  Lewiston,  Me.  ;  at  Collinsville  and  Granby, 
Conn.  At  the  last-named  place  he  lived  nine  years, 
acting  for  two  years  as  State  Missionary.     In  December, 


228  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

1864,  he  was  appointed  chaplain  of  the  29th  Maine  Reg- 
iment, and  served  to  the  close  of  the  war.  His  son,  a 
young  man  of  much  promise,  died  of  wounds  received  in 
the  service.  Mr.  Webster's  first  wife  was  Miss  Mary 
Buckminster,  of  Georgetown,  Mass.  ;  his  second,  Mrs. 
M.  C.  Granniss,  a  lady  long  and  favorably  known  to  the 
denomination  by  her  contributions  to  the  "  Ladies'  Re- 
pository" and  other  periodicals.  Upon  his  second  mar- 
riage he  went  into  secular  business,  still  continuing  to 
preach  as  opportunity  offered.  He  died  of  pneumonia, 
after  great  suffering,  March  8,  1877,  in  his  sixtieth  year. 
He  was  one  of  the  true  and  brave  spirits  who  endured 
obloquy  and  repudiation  by  family  and  friends  because 
of  his  fidelity  to  his  religious  convictions,  and  was  made 
more  than  victor  in  his  persistent  and  devoted  life. 

Rev.  Asa  P.  Cleverly  did  good  service  in  the  min- 
istry. Ordained  in  1834,  he  became  the  pastor  of  soci- 
eties in  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire.  He  had 
not  the  wide  recognition  of  some  ministers,  but  his  char- 
acter was  pure,  and  the  best  results  of  faithful  Christian 
exertion  were  found  in  every  parish  in  which  he  labored. 
The  pastors  following  him  had  cause  to  speak  in  praise 
of  the  good  works  of  their  predecessor.  He  died  in 
Boston  in  1871,  aged  sixty-four. 

Rev.  Thomas  J.  Whitcomb  was  born  in  Hanover, 
Mass.,  June  4,  1801,  and  died  in  Canisteo,  Steuben 
County,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  9,  1877.  He  attended  for  a  while 
the  academy  in  the  neighboring  town  of  Hingham,  and 
studied  for  the  ministry  with  Rev.  Paul  Dean,  in  Boston. 
He  was  ordained  in  Washington,  N.  H.,  in  June,  1827. 
In  1880  he  was  at  Hudson,  N.  Y.,  and  was  afterwards 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  229 

located  at  Schenectady,  Victor,  Cortland,  Newport, 
Springville,  Buffalo,  and  Alexander,  N.  Y.,  and,  in 
1844-46,  at  Hightstown,  N.  J.  In  1868  he  went  to  live 
in  Cambridgeboro',  Crawford  County,  Pa.,  where  he  re- 
sided four  years.  He  then  removed  to  Canisteo,  and 
remained  there  until  his  death.  He  has  left  an  excel- 
lent name  as  a  citizen,  minister,  and  pastor.  Rev.  Dr. 
Le  Fevre,  who  knew  him  well,  sa}^s :  — 

"  Brother  Whitcomb  was  not  what  is  termed  a  sensational 
preacher,  nor  did  he  possess  rhetorical  powers,  but  he  was  a 
good  preacher,  and  left  on  his  hearers  the  conviction  of  his 
earnestness  and  devotedness.  As  a  disciple  of  the  Master, 
he  followed  his  direction  '  Go  preach  the  Gospel !  '  That 
was  the  sum  and  substance  of  his  message.  In  his  pastoral 
relationship  he  was  very  efficient." 

Rev.  George  W.  Whitney,  born  in  Nashua,  N.  H., 
March  27,  1843,  was  another  of  our  worthy  ministers 
called  away  from  his  earthly  work  in  the  prime  of  his 
usefulness.  He  received  his  early  religious  training  in 
the  Congregational  Church,  when  after  his  eighteenth 
year  becoming  an  attendant  at  the  Universalist  Church, 
of  which  Rev.  J.  O.  Skinner  was  pastor,  he  embraced 
the  doctrines  there  taught,  and  subsequently  entered 
upon  the  study  of  divinity.  His  first  sermon  was 
preached  on  the  day  of  his  majority,  at  West  Windsor, 
Vt.,  where  he  preached  part  of  the  time  in  1865.  He 
was  afterwards  located  as  pastor  in  Westminster,  Bev- 
erly, and  Quincy,  Mass.,  and  in  1878  assumed  the  pas- 
torate of  the  parish  in  Augusta,  Me.,  remaining  here 
until  the  progress  of  his  disease  (consumption)  forced 
him  to  resign.  He  preached  his  last  sermon  Jan.  9, 
1881,  concluding  a  rich  and  successful  ministry.     He 


230  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

had  the  inborn  elements  of  a  Christian  minister.  He 
was  a  logical,  ready,  and  gifted  speaker,  but  his  great 
strength  lay  in  his  earnest  and  sympathetic  nature, 
which  found  out  the  best  qualities  in  his  hearers  and 
roused  them  to  action.  When  conscious  that  his  life- 
work  was  ended,  he  saw  the  approach  of  death  with 
calmness  ;  his  sufferings  seemed  but  to  develop  greater 
spirituality.  In  one  of  his  last  letters  to  a  friend,  he 
says:  "Never  until  these  cla}'S  of  trial  and  sickness  has 
the  spiritual  and  divine  been  so  real,  or  my  faith  in 
another  life  so  strong."  He  died  in  Waltham,  Mass., 
May  26,  1881. 

Rev.  Robinson  Beeaee  came  into  our  ministry  from 
England.  He  was  in  early  life  a  member  of  the  Wes- 
leyan  Church  there.  In  1882  he  was  inducted  into  the 
ministry  of  that  church,  having  been  examined  by  the 
Rev.  Richard  Watson,  the  author  of  Watson's  "  Insti- 
tutes." In  1839  he  was  sent  as  a  missionary  to  Halifax, 
N.  S.  In  1841,  while  engaged  in  the  work  of  a  revi- 
val in  his  church,  a  Universalist  book  was  put  into  his 
hands,  and  after  a  careful  reading  of  it,  and  long  and 
prayerful  inquiry  and  meditation,  he  became  a  believer 
in  the  Gospel  of  God's  impartial  grace  and  salvation. 
And  there  in  Halifax,  in  the  face  of  persecution  by  his 
former  parishioners,  in  spite  of  the  severance  of  all 
former  friendships,  he  began,  in  painfulness  and  trial, 
the  work  of  building  up  the  Universalist  Church.  From 
that  time,  the  work  has  gone  steadily  forward.  Our 
church  in  Halifax  is  as  true  and  substantial  as  any  that 
exists  in  the  Province. 

Mr.  Breare  remained  in  Halifax  until  the  first  church 
was  built.     He  then  came  to  Massachusetts,  where  he- 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  231 

labored  from  1844  to  1853.  In  this  last-named  year  he 
came  to  Ohio,  where  he  successfully  canvassed  for  the 
"■  Star  in  the  West."  Afterwards,  for  two  years,  he  was 
employed  as  missionary  by  the  Ballou  Association.  In 
1856  he  came  into  Gallia  County,  where  he  lived  during 
the  remainder  of  his  days,  having  his  home  at  last  in 
Wilkesville,  Vinton  County.  He  was  loved  and  hon- 
ored wherever  known,  and  no  man,  it  would  seem,  could 
have  had  a  more  complete  consecration  than  he  to  the 
Christian  cause.  With  his  immovable  faith  in  Uni- 
versalism,  he  united  the  enlightened  and  fervent  zeal  of 
a  true  Christian  revivalist. 


232  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

sketches  OF  ministers  —  continued. 

Workman  of  God !  0  lose  not  heart, 

But  learn  what  God  is  like ; 
And  in  the  darkest  hattle-field 

Thou  shalt  know  where  to  strike. 

Lyra  Catholica. 

"O  EV.  ZADOC  H,  HOWE,  of  Maine,  after  receiv- 
-*-^-  ing  an  academical  education  in  Readfield,  Me., 
prepared  for  the  ministry,  and  was  ordained  in  1846. 
After  a  service  of  some  years  in  his  native  State,  he 
removed  to  Monroe,  Madison  Count}',  Wis.,  where,  after 
preaching  a  year  and  a  half,  he  was  compelled  by  fail- 
ing health  to  suspend  his  labors.  A  severe  bronchial 
trouble,  making  public  speaking  difficult,  was  the  cause 
of  frequent  removals.  For  the  last  six  or  seven  years 
of  his  life  he  was  postmaster  of  Monroe.  During  the 
war  of  the  Rebellion  he  was  appointed  chaplain  of  the 
5th  Wisconsin  regiment,  but  was  obliged  after  a  few 
months  to  resign.  He  was  a  gentle  and  pure-souled 
man,  with  keen  intellectual  powers.  One  who  knew 
him  well,  has  written  of  him  :  — 

"  In  theology,  as  in  his  theories  of  reform  in  general,  he 
was  very  radical,  holding  firmly  and  conscientiously  to  the 
naturalistic  views  of  the  so-called  liberal  wing  of  the  theolo- 
gians, and  did  not  feel  himself  in  complete  harmony  with  the 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  233 

policy  of  the  Universalist  denomination.  Yet  embracing  with 
his  whole  heart  its  fundamental  and  distinguishing  tenets,  his 
soul  was  all  aflame  with  noble  and  generous  impulses." 

Rev.  Willard  C.  George  was  one  of  the  preachers 
of  Maine,  having  had  pastorates  there  in  Bremen,  Dres- 
den, and  Calais.  He  was  one  of  the  most  modest  of 
men,  of  feeble  voice,  but  a  speaker  who  was  very  ac- 
ceptable to  his  hearers,  because  of  the  good  thoughts 
brought  out  in  his  discoursing.  Convinced  that  his 
health  required  a  change  of  occupation,  he  adopted  the 
medical  profession,  making  a  visit  to  Europe  to  gain 
information  from  foreign  sources  that  might  aid  him  in 
his  new  vocation.  On  his  return  home  he  published  a 
book  of  his  travels  and  observations  abroad.  He  was  a 
successful  practitioner  in  several  places,  and  finally  re- 
turned to  his  native  town,  Norway,  Me,  where  he  died 
in  October,  1869,  aged  fifty-seven.  He  was  not  only  a 
sound  theologian,  but  was  well  versed  in  the  physical 
sciences,  upon  which  he  frequently  lectured.  He  never 
abandoned  his  purpose  to  return  to  the  ministry  as  soon 
as  his  health  would  allow.  He  was  a  devoted  Christian, 
and  gave  his  life  to  much  of  the  good  work  which 
Christianity  requires. 

Rev.  Mark  Powers  began  his  preparation  for  the 
ministry  with  Rev.  L.  H.  Tabor,  then  of  West  Charles- 
ton, Vt.,  in  February,  1854,  and  in  July,  1855,  was 
ordained  at  Washington,  Vt.,  where  for  four  years  he 
lived,  preaching  there  and  at  Strafford,  twenty  miles 
distant.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Strafford,  where  he 
continued  to  preach  for  six  years,  making  in  all  ten 
years  of  labor  in  the  latter  place.     He  then  removed  to 


234  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

Gaysville,  Vt.,  where  he  continued  for  four  years,  and 
from  thence  to  West  Concord,  which  was  his  last  settle- 
ment. In  Strafford  he  induced  the  Universalists  to  buy 
out  the  Free  Will  Baptists,  who  claimed  to  own  one 
half  of  the  meeting-house,  and  to  repair  it,  and  was  thus 
instrumental  in  giving  them  a  house  of  their  own,  and 
freeing  them  from  the  constant  annoyance  to  which  a 
union  house  had  subjected  them.  Essentially  the  same 
thing  was  accomplished  while  he  lived  in  Gaysville, 
while  the  effort  there  resulted  also  in  a  better  edifice. 
In  West  Concord,  his  ministry,  though  short,  was  suc- 
cessful. His  sermons  were  sound,  his  spirit  excellent, 
and  the  result  of  his  teaching  every  way  good.  In  the 
autumn  of  1870  Mr.  Powers  attended  the  Centenary 
Convention  at  Gloucester,  Mass.,  where  he  was  taken 
with  a  haemorrhage  of  the  lungs  from  which  he  never 
recovered.     He  died  in  June,  1872. 

Rev.  Lewis  Leonard  Record  was  born  in  Minot 
(afterwards  Auburn),  Me.  He  graduated  at  Bowdoin 
College  in  1845.  In  1850  he  was  ordained,  and  was 
settled  as  a  preacher  in  Houlton,  Me.,  in  Scituate  and 
Anisquam,  Mass.  In  1863  he  went  into  the  army  as 
chaplain  of  the  23d  Massachusetts  regiment  of  volun- 
teers, and  served  eleven  months.  While  with  the  army 
in  North  Carolina  he  was  attacked  with  the  yellow 
fever,  from  the  effects  of  which  he  never  recovered. 
When  his  strength  was  somewhat  restored,  he  engaged 
in  missionary  work,  and  did  good  service,  especially  in 
Biddeford  and  Saco,  Me.,  preparing  the  way  for  a  new 
house  of  worship  in  that  locality.  In  1870  he  moved  to 
Marlboro',  N.  H.,  where  he  labored  earnestly  and  suc- 
cessfully until  July,  1871,  when  he  was  compelled  to 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  285 

desist  from  labor,  and  from  that  date  he  steadily  de- 
clined until  his  death,  which  took  place  in  Marlboro, 
Dec.  7,  1871,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  At  his 
burial  the  clergymen  of  different  denominations  in  the 
town  acted  as  pall-bearers.  He  was  highly  respected, 
and  his  whole  being  was  consecrated  to  the  cause  of  the 
Gospel. 

Rev.  Henry  H.  Baker  was  born  in  Minot,  Me., 
Nov.  24, 1811,  and  died  of  paralysis  in  Rochester,  N.  Y., 
Sept.  28,  1881.  He  was  aided  by  friends  in  obtaining 
an  education  with  the  expectation  that  he  would  become 
a  Methodist  preacher  ;  but  being  converted  to  Univer- 
salism  in  his  school  days,  he  was  unable  to  comply  with 
their  wishes,  and  desired  to  enter  the  ministry  of  his 
newly-adopted  faith.  Being  restrained  from  this  by  the 
fear  of  alienating  his  friends,  he  determined  to  stud}7 
medicine  ;  but  after  devoting  a  year  to  this,  he  yielded 
to  his  stronger  impulse,  and  by  advice  of  Rev.  D.  T. 
Stevens,  then  of  Lewiston  Falls,  Me.,  abandoned  medi- 
cine and  began  the  study  of  divinity.  He  was  ordained 
in  1841.  His  first  pastorate  was  over  the  societies  of 
Windham  and  Gray,  Me.,  where  he  preached  on  alter- 
nate Sundays  for  two  years.  He  was  afterwards  settled 
over  the  parishes  in  Elliot  and  Kittery,  Me.,  in  Essex 
and  Georgetown,  Mass.,  in  Ludlow,  Vt,  in  Hammond, 
Fort  Plain,  St.  Johnsville,  Fordsbush,  Argusville,  and 
other  neighboring  towns,  N.  Y.,  one  year  in  Orange, 
Mass.,  and  six  years  in  Middleport,  N.  Y.  After  this 
he  lived  in  Rochester  and  preached  in  Conesas,  when 
his  health  declined,  and  he  preached  only  occasionally 
as  his  health  would  permit.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature  from  Georgetown  while   he 


236  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

lived  there  in  the  winter  of  1850-1.     He  was  an  earnest, 
sincere,  and  faithful  servant  of  the  Christian  Master. 

Rev.  James  W.  Ford  was  born  in  Orford,  N.  H.,  in 
1796,  and  died  at  Kendall's  Mills,  Me.,  Dec.  16,  1861, 
aged  sixty-five.  He  was  educated  for  the  medical  pro- 
fession, and  gained  a  good  reputation  as  a  physician, 
having  served  in  that  capacity  in  Westbrook  and  Water- 
ville,  Me.  His  love  of  Universalism,  however,  gradually 
led  him  into  the  ministry.  He  appears  as  a  new  minis- 
ter in  1841,  at  Claremont,  N.  H.  He  was  at  Morris- 
town,  Vt.,  from  1842  to  1844  ;  at  Glover,  Vt.,  1844  to 
1847  ;  at  Winchester,  N.  H.,  1847  to  1851  ;  at  Spring- 
field, Vt.,  1851  ;  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  1852  and  1853  ; 
at  Holyoke,  Mass.,  1854-5;  at  Norway,  Me.,  1856  to 
1860  ;  at  Kendall's  Mills  from  1860  until  his  decease. 
Wherever  he  resided  he  was  respected  as  a  physician 
and  minister.  After  an  illness  of  several  months  he 
passed  away  quietly  and  peacefully,  leaving  a  family  and 
numerous  friends  to  cherish  his  memory.  He  was 
buried  with  Masonic  honors,  and  two  Methodist  clergy- 
men assisted  in  the  funeral  services. 

Rev.  E.  H.  Lake  was  born  in  Haverhill,  Mass.,  and 
moved  to  Lynn  when  fifteen  years  old.  He  soon  be- 
came constant  at  church  and  active  in  conference  meet- 
ings. In  1839,  when  only  seventeen,  he  commenced 
preparing  for  the  ministry,  and  soon  after  began  preach- 
ing in  school-houses  in  the  surrounding  towns.  He 
was  afterwards  settled  successively  in  Middleton  and 
Bridgewater,  Mass.,  and  East  Kingston  and  Westmore- 
land, N.  H.  About  1850  he  removed  to  South  Carolina 
on  account  of  failing  health,  and  travelled  extensively 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  237 

in  that  State,  North  Carolina,  Virginia,  Georgia,  Florida, 
and  Mississippi.  He  wrote  much  for  the  Universalist 
paper  of  that  region,  held  several  public  discussions, 
published  a  book,  and  did  the  full  work  of  a  very  strong 
man.  He  was  a  ready  speaker,  earnest,  keen,  yet 
pleasant,  and  had  a  retentive  memory.  He  was  difficult 
to  manage  in  controversy,  but  was  always  orderly,  re- 
spectful, and  kind  to  his  opponent.  He  had  purchased 
a  small  farm  of  100  acres  in  Magnolia,  N.  C,  where  he 
resided  with  his  family.  He  had  seemed  to  be  on  the 
borders  of  the  grave  with  consumption  for  two  years, 
but  still  kept  actively  engaged  in  his  profession,  and 
died  while  on  a  visit  to  Rev.  A.  Bosserman,  then  just 
released  from  prison  in  Richmond,  in  the  autumn  of 
1862,  aged  about  forty  years. 

Rev.  L.  B.  Mason  died  in  May,  1864,  in  Madison, 
Wis.  He  was  favorably  known  as  a  minister  and  highly 
esteemed  in  New  England.  He  was  at  one  time  pastor 
of  the  Second  Universalist  Church  in  Lowell,  Mass. 
From  this  city  he  moved  to  Haverhill,  Mass.,  and  was 
pastor  of  the  Universalist  Church  in  that  place  several 
years.  From  Haverhill  he  was  called  to  the  pastorate 
of  St.  Paul's  Church  in  Chicago.  He  became  proprietor 
and  editor  of  the  "  New  Covenant,"  and  conducted  the 
paper  with  much  ability  and  discretion.  After  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion,  he  became  chaplain  of 
the  12th  Wisconsin  Regiment,  but  the  hardships  and 
exposure  incident  to  the  position  were  too  much  for  his 
frail  constitution,  and  he  was  compelled  to  resign  his 
office  in  the  autumn  of  1863,  after  having  faithfully 
served  his  regiment  from  the  day  of  its  organization. 
His  men  loved  him  devotedly,  and  testified  to  his  faith- 


238  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

fulness  as  a  chaplain.  But  he  came  home  quite  broken 
in  health,  though  afterwards  preaching  and  working 
when  many  men  of  feebler  determination  would  have 
been  utterly  discouraged.  On  one  or  two  occasions  he 
fainted  in  the  pulpit  when  officiating,  but  still  persisted 
in  his  work  till  within  a  few  weeks  of  his  decease. 

Rev.  Lafayette  Barstow  died  in  Orono,  Me.,  Nov. 
10,  1865,  aged  forty-three  years.  In  his  youth  he  was 
connected  with  the  Universalist  Church  in  Chicopee, 
Mass.,  where  he  won  the  confidence  and  respect  of  his 
brethren.  In  1850  he  went  to  Oregon,  where  he  re- 
mained several  years.  Returning  to  the  East,  he  en- 
tered Tufts  College,  and  was  afterwards  called  to  the 
pastorship  of  the  Universalist  Society  in  Orono,  Me., 
where  he  labored  with  diligence  and  success  for  eight 
years,  closing  his  only  pastorate  with  his  earthly  life. 
Ex-Governor  Washburn,  for  several  years  one  of  his 
parishioners,  wrote  in  regard  to  his  death  and  the  loss  to 
the  Orono  Society  and  to  the  denomination  :  — 

"  In  the  community  where  he  lived  his  place  will  not  he 
easily  supplied.  He  had  become,  as  it  were,  an  integral  part 
of  the  life  of  Orono.  His  well-known  form  will  be  missed 
upon  the  street,  the  light  of  his  genial  face,  radiant  with 
spiritual  beauty,  will  be  a  joy  in  its  homes  no  more,  but  his 
memory  will  be  sweet  and  precious  to  all,  of  whatever  re- 
ligious name  or  party,  who  have  known  him  intimately." 

Rev.  Stillman  Barden  was  a  fervent  and  devout 
man.  Born  in  Stoddard,  N.  H.,  he  commenced  his 
ministry  in  1839,  and  labored  with  but  little  cessation 
for  twenty-six  years.  Most  of  his  ministry  was  in 
Massachusetts.      He    was   settled   as    pastor   in    South 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  239 

Reading,  Orleans,  Beverly,  Marblehead,  and  Rockport. 
His  whole  ministerial,  domestic  and  social  life,  was 
one  of  Christian  fidelity.  Not  preaching  to  large  con- 
gregations of  people,  never  receiving  a  large  salary, 
he  was,  nevertheless,  truly  successful  in  securing  the 
best  results  of  the  ministry.  His  religion  was  intensely 
practical.  He  was  active  in  the  cause  of  Temperance, 
and  the  Anti-slavery  cause  had  not  a  well-wisher  more 
ardent  or  conscientious.  He  loved  the  prayer  and  con- 
ference meeting,  and  was  always  ready  with  a  warm 
and  suggestive  word  to  give  it  effect.  He  was  much 
interested  in  the  science  of  mineralogy,  and  had  gath- 
ered quite  a  large  and  valuable  cabinet  of  choice  speci- 
mens. He  died  in  Rockport,  Mass.,  Aug.  7,  1865,  aged 
fifty-three  years. 

Rev.  Timothy  J.  Tenney  was  a  native  of  Weare, 
N.  H.,  and  came  into  the  ministry  from  the  instruction 
of  Rev.  T.  F.  King,  of  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  in  1834.  In 
1836  he  moved  to  Maine,  where  in  Fryeburg  and  neigh- 
boring towns  he  labored  successfully  for  nearly  four 
years.  He  was  afterwards  minister  in  Norway  and 
Denmark,  and  then  in  St.  Johnsbury  and  in  Glover, 
Vt.,  where  he  closed  his  earthly  career.  So  good  was 
his  health  generally  that  he  failed  in  no  one  instance  to 
meet  his  appointments  on  account  of  illness,  until  at 
the  very  last  of  his  clays.  He  died  in  Glover,  Vt.,  Oct. 
8,  1854.  He  was  an  able  and  devoted  minister  of  the 
New  Testament,  a  conscientious  and  faithful  man,  true 
to  his  own  convictions.  He  was  a  Christian  reformer, 
always  the  active  friend  of  Temperance,  Freedom,  and 
Peace.  His  son,  Rev.  C.  R.  Tenney,  is  at  present  pastor 
of  the  Universalis  Church  in  Stoughton,  Mass. 


240  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Rev.  Orren  Perkins,  born  at  Savoy,  Mass.,  Aug. 
11,  1823,  preached  his  first  sermon  at  South  Adams,  and 
was  ordained  at  Bernardston,  by  the  Winchester  Asso- 
ciation, in  June,  1847.  He  was  settled  at  Bernards- 
ton  four  years ;  afterwards  had  a  short  pastorate  at 
Wilmington,  Vt.,and  then  moved  to  Winchester,  N.  H., 
where  he  remained  twelve  years.  For  five  of  those 
years  he  was  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature,  being 
three  }'ears  in  the  House  and  two  in  the  Senate.  He 
was  also  for  ten  years  State  superintendent  of  schools. 
Later,  he  took  charge  of  the  Academy  at  Cooperstown, 
N.  Y.,  with  which  he  was  connected  some  years.  He 
was  settled  at  West  Concord,  Vt.,  the  last  two  years  of 
his  life,  and  left  there  for  Chicago,  where  he  was  to  be 
employed  in  editorial  work  on  the  "  Star  and  Cove- 
nant." He  had  a  peculiarly  sensitive  and  nervous  tem- 
perament; and  during  the  last  few  years  was  subject 
to  great  depression  of  spirits,  caused  by  the  loss  of  his 
property  and  the  almost  total  failure  of  his  voice.  A 
gloomy  cloud  hung  over  him :  he  felt  that  his  usefulness 
was  at  an  end,  and  his  mental  anguish  became  insup- 
portable. In  a  moment  of  frenzied  despair  his  mind,  af- 
fected by  hereditary  insanity,  gave  way,  and  he  freed 
himself  from  the  earthly  life.  He  was  much  beloved, 
and  his  life  was  blameless.  He  was  an  accurate  scholar, 
a  very  successful  teacher,  and  an  able  and  interesting 
writer.  He  died  at  Chicago,  111.,  Oct.  30,  1880.  He 
leaves  a  widow,  Mrs.  Sarah  M.  Perkins  (one  of  our 
woman  preachers),  and  three  daughters. 

Rev.  Charles  Heman  Dtjtton  was  born  in  Ogden, 
Genesee  County,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  5,  1823,  and  died  in  Ham- 
ilton, Ohio,  July  17,  1877,  in  his  fifty-fourth  year.     His 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  241 

family  removed  to  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  when  he  was  seven- 
teen years  old ;  and  he  was  a  student  in  the  Rochester 
Collegiate  Institute.  His  thoughts  at  an  early  age  had 
been  turned  to  the  ministry  through  the  preaching  of 
Rev.  J.  M.  Cook.  His  studies  preparatory  to  the  min- 
istry were  very  meagre  ;  a  few  months  were  spent  with 
Rev.  Mr.  Hammond  of  Rochester,  and  a  few  more  with 
Rev.  S.  R.  Smith,  then  of  Buffalo.  He  was  licensed  as 
a  preacher  in  1843,  when  he  was  scarcely  twenty  years 
old.  He  was  pastor  in  Essex,  Canton,  Marblehead,  and 
Lowell,  Mass.  Afterwards  he  resided  in  Rochester  and 
Leroy,  N.  Y.,  in  Springfield,  Marietta,  and  Hamilton, 
Ohio,  in  which  last-named  place  he  died.  He  was 
credited,  in  the  various  places  of  his  residence,  with  a 
vigorous  intellect,  superior  pulpit  talents,  gentlemanly 
manners,  and  the  conscientious  and  faithful  performance 
of  his  duties  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  His  Christian 
faith  grew  stronger  and  stronger  as  the  outward  man 
failed. 

Thirty  years  since,  there  was  a  minister  of  the  Uni- 
versalist  faith  in  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont,  "  a  plain, 
blunt  man,"  with  no  pretensions  to  a  classical  educa- 
tion, but  speaking  in  words  of  most  expressive  English, 
with  "  the  Bible  at  his  tongue's  end," —  Rev.  Robert 
Bartlett.  He  was  one  of  the  pioneers,  who  preached 
the  Gospel  as  opportunity  occurred,  in  any  place, — 
school-house,  barn,  parlor,  kitchen,  church,  or  in  the 
open  field.  He  was  always  astir,  and  always  full  of  his 
theme,  "  the  Gospel  of  Universal  Grace  and  Salvation." 
In  the  country  j)laces,  rather  than  in  cities,  he  seemed 
most  at  home.  Once,  it  is  said,  when  appointed  to 
preach  an  occasional  Convention  sermon,  at  the  yearly 

10 


242  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

assembling,  in  a  large  and  beautiful  church,  he  seemed 
in  his  simplicity  and  modesty  so  overpowered  by  the 
thought  of  the  occasion  as  to  be  able  to  make  only  a 
faint  demonstration  of  his  speaking  powers.  But  in  his 
usual  Sunday  services  in  the  rural  places  and  with  plain- 
est surroundings,  he  would  preach  the  word  of  the 
primitive  Gospel  "•  in  demonstration  of  the  spirit  and 
with  power."  He  is  remembered,  by  not  a  few  who 
have  heard  him,  as  such  a  preacher. 

In  recent  time  Mr.  Bartlett  disappeared  from  public 
notice ;  his  work  being  done,  and  the  infirmity  of  years 
resting  upon  him.  He  recently  departed  this  life  in 
Boston,  January,  1882,  aged  nearly  ninety.  The  fu- 
neral was  attended  by  Dr.  Miner,  who  in  his  youth  had 
often  listened  to  his  preaching.  The  remains  were 
taken  for  burial  to  Laconia,  N.  H. 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  243 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

sketches  of  ministers.  —  continued. 

"Now  then,  we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ."  —  2  Cor.  v.  20. 

"D  EV.  RUFUS  SPUR  POPE,  pastor  of  the  First 
-■-^-  Universalist  Society  in  Hyannis,  Mass.,  died  in 
that  place  June  5,  1882.  He  was  born  in  Stoughton, 
Mass.,  April  2,  1809.  His  father  removed  from  Stongh- 
ton to  Dorchester,  and  thence  to  Marlboro,  where  the  son 
spent  his  youthful  days  in  agricultural  pursuits.  He 
received  his  education  in  the  common  schools  and  in 
the  Marlboro  Academy.  While  young  he  was  drawn 
toward  the  ministry,  and  his  love  for  it  continued  to 
the  end.  He  spent  some  time  in  theological  studies 
with  the  late  Rev.  Sylvanus  Cobb,  D.  D.,  in  Maiden  ; 
and  in  1833  preached  his  first  sermon,  in  South  Ded- 
ham.  Besides  his  settlement  in  this  place,  he  had 
pastorates  in  Milford,  Sterling,  and  Hardwick,  covering 
a  period  of  ten  years.  In  1843  the  society  in  Hyannis 
invited  him  to  be  their  pastor.  Accepting  the  call,  he 
labored  in  this  place  faithfully  thirty  years.  After 
closing  his  work  here,  he  ministered  to  the  church  in 
Orleans  three  years,  and  briefly  supplied  some  other 
parishes.  His  health  has  been  gradually  failing  for 
some  years. 

Mr.  Pope  was  a  public  man  in  more  than  one  sense. 
He  served  Barnstable  for  years  very  faithfully  and  ac- 


244  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

ceptably  as  one  of  its  school  committee,  and  was  for 
two  years  representative  from  the  town  in  the  State  Leg- 
islature. He  rilled  for  some  time  the  office  of  Register 
of  Probate  for  Barnstable  County,  and  was  for  several 
years  postmaster  of  Hyannis.  He  was  an  active  and 
much  respected  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity. 

Rev.  William  M.  De  Long  was  born  in  Pittsfield, 
Otsego  Count}',  N.  Y.,  Sept.  2,  1815,  and  died  in  Bing- 
hampton,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  30,  1877,  aged  sixty-two  years. 
He  was  the  youngest  of  a  family  of  five  brothers  and 
nine  sisters.  When  he  was  nine  years  old  the  family 
moved  to  Hastings,  Oswego  County.  His  mother  be- 
came entirely  blind  by  an  inflammation  in  her  eyes,  and 
by  reason  of  afflictions,  of  hard  times  and  many  children 
to  provide  for,  the  family  was  reduced  to  abject  poverty. 
The  father  died  soon  after  removing  to  Hastings,  and  the 
family  was  broken  and  scattered.  The  mother  moved 
to  Clark's  Mills,  near  Utica,  where  she  died  in  1830, 
when  William  was  fifteen  years  old.  He  lived  a  year 
in  Sanquoit,  with  a  friend  of  the  family,  and  while 
there  heard  Rev.  W.  Bullard  and  Rev.  Dolphus  Skinner 
preach  a  few  Universalist  sermons,  in  which  }*oung 
De  Long  became  deeply  interested,  as  well  as  in  reading 
the  "  Magazine  and  Advocate,"  and  for  this  reason  was 
dismissed  from  the  machine-shop  at  Unadilla  Forks  by 
its  proprietor,  a  Mr.  Abel  Stillman,  who,  however,  re- 
considered his  unreasonable  conduct,  and  reinstated  Mr. 
De  Long,  who  worked  there  long  enough  to  acquire  the 
money  to  pay  for  a  year's  tuition  at  Hartwick  Seminary. 
He  afterwards  attended  the  New  Berlin  Academy.  His 
faith  in  Universalism  grew  with  his  increased  facili- 
ties for  study,  and  in  August,  1835,  he  preached  his 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  245 

first  sermon.  He  was  ordained  July  20,  1837,  and 
preached  under  different  engagements  at  Lebanon, 
Oran,  and  Binghampton,  in  New  York.  In  1841  he 
joined  Rev.  George  Rogers  in  a  missionary  tour  through 
Ohio  and  Indiana.  For  many  years  he  itinerated  over 
a  large  circuit  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  He  was 
twice  married,  first  to  Miss  Mary  Ann  Ashcroft,  who 
died  in  1870,  and  in  1871  to  Miss  Mary  Jane  Swart, 
an  acceptable  preacher  of  the  Universalist  faith,  who 
survives  him.  There  is  a  good  account  of  her  in  "  Our 
Woman  Workers,"  by  Mrs.  Hanson. 

In  1878  Mr.  De  Long  began  to  suffer  from  a  paralytic 
affection,  from  which  he  could  get  no  relief.  These 
sentences,  written  and  signed  by  him  a  short  time  be- 
fore he  had  lost  the  power  of  guiding  his  pen,  show  the 
strength  of  his  faith:  "I  know  that  God  is,  that  my 
Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  we  have  a  house  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  This  is  the  source 
of  my  consolation." 

Rev.  W.  B.  Lin nell  was  born  in  Birmingham,  Eng- 
land, in  1804,  and  died  in  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  Sept.  6, 
1868.  His  first  settlement  in  the  ministry  was  in 
Springboro,  Ohio,  in  1844,  where  he  continued  for 
seven  years.  He  afterwards  had  a  settlement  in  Fair- 
field, Ind. ;  Mt.  Pleasant,  la. ;  and  Oquawka,  in  which 
last  place  he  remained  until  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war.  He  then  enlisted  in  the  service  of  his  adopted 
country  as  chaplain  of  the  10th  Illinois  regiment. 
Health  failed  him,  and  he  returned  to  his  home,  after 
enduring  the  hardships  of  camp  life  for  nearly  a  year. 
After  recovering  his  health,  he  took  charge  of  the 
church  in  Vevay,  Ind.     He  was  one   of  the  pioneers 


246  FIFTY  NOTABLE  YEARS. 

of  Universalism  in  the  West,  and  did  good  service  as 
a  Christian  minister.  Having  much  of  the  missionary 
spirit,  his  appointments  were  always  numerous,  and 
they  were  made  many  weeks  ahead.  As  a  preacher, 
though  not  particularly  brilliant,  he  was  always  effi- 
cient. He  inherited  the  traditional  shrewdness  and 
humor  of  the  Yorkshire  people,  wdio  were  his  ances- 
tors, in  such  a  degree  as  to  make  him  a  marked  charac- 
ter among  his  brother  ministers.  He  was  kind  and 
tender-hearted  to  a  fault,  yet  his  will  was  unbending, 
and  when  his  mind  was  once  made  up  it  was  difficult 
to  change  him. 

Rev.  Joshua  Beitton  came  from  Westmoreland, 
N.  H.,  where  he  was  born  Aug.  14,  1803.  His  early  life 
was  spent  upon  a  farm,  where  he  had  but  limited  oppor- 
tunities for  attending  school.  But  he  diligently  improved 
those  that  offered,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  began  a 
successful  career  as  a  teacher,  which  extended  over  ten 
years,  pursuing  his  studies  at  the  same  time,  and  still 
adding  to  his  stores  of  knowledge.  He  had  from  youth 
a  serious  and  devout  mind,  and  was  always  a  regular 
attendant  on  public  worship.  He  was  inclined  to  the 
faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  until  about  the  age 
of  twenty-three,  when  he  had  opportunities  for  hearing 
the  doctrines  of  Universalism  advocated  and  defended 
by  the  late  Rev.  Dolphus  Skinner,  and  others.  He 
became  deeply  interested,  and  his  intelligent  mind 
eagerly  drank  in  the  new  views  presented.  His  faith 
grew  stronger  with  the  lapse  of  time,  and  he  finally 
resolved  to  enter  the  ministry.  He  preached  his  first 
sermon  in  1831,  and  was  ordained  at  Burlington  Flats, 
N.  Y.,  June  6,  1832.     He  was  settled  over  parishes  in 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  247 

the  State  of  New  York  till  1839,  when  he  was  in  Ches- 
terfield, N.  H.,  for  a  year.  He  spent  the  next  ten  years 
in  Dudle}^  and  North  Chatham,  Mass. ;  then  three  years 
in  Stoddard  and  Richmond,  N.  H.  He  removed  to 
Vermont  in  1853,  and  preached  in  Brattleboro,  West 
Concord,  Lyndon,  and  Bradford  for  the  next  fifteen 
years,  when  he  went  to  Fort  Atkinson,  Wis.,  which  was 
his  home  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  was  a  faith- 
ful and  excellent  pastor ;  he  had  a  mild  and  loving 
heart,  and  won  many  friends.  If  not  one  of  the  great- 
est ministers  intellectually,  he  was  one  of  the  best 
spiritually,  and  his  life  was  a  pure  and  useful  one.  He 
died  at  Fort  Atkinson,  Wis.,  Oct.  30,  1878. 

An  instance  illustrative  of  the  orderly  habits  of  the 
man  was,  years  ago,  related  to  the  writer.  The  books 
in  his  library  were  always  exactly  in  their  places,  and 
the  backs  of  them  in  a  straight  line.  At  one  time  an 
exchange  minister,  who  had  the  free  use  of  the  library 
during  a  Sunday^s  tarring,  had  failed  to  replace  the 
volumes  he  had  taken  down  according  to  the  rules  of 
the  proprietor.  When  Mr.  Britton  entered  the  stmly 
on  his  return  home,  while  his  brother  was  yet  there,  the 
first  kindly  salutations  were  scarcely  over  when  the 
projecting  volumes  were  all  noted  and  quickly  adjusted 
by  their  owner.     A  singular  and  timely  suggestion. 

Rev.  George  Messenger  was  originally  from  Berk- 
shire, Mass.,  removing  from  thence  to  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  afterwards,  in  1838,  to  Springfield,  Ohio, 
where  lie  ever  after  lived,  a  widely  known  and  highly 
respected  citizen.  He  was  licensed  as  a  preacher  at 
Madison,  N.  Y.,  in  1824,  and  ordained  at  Eatonsbush, 
N.  Y.,  Oct.  12,  1826.     He  was  an  itinerant  preacher, 


248  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

and  much  interested  in  the  prosperity  of  the  church 
where  he  resided.  As  one  of  the  trustees  of  Buchtel 
College,  he  gave  much  of  his  time  and  attention  to  the 
supervision  of  the  erection  of  the  college  building.  For 
the  last  few  months  of  his  life  he  was  very  hard  at  work 
at  Akron,  and  while  thus  engaged  contracted  a  sickness 
which  terminated  in  death.  "It  may  be  said  of  him," 
wrote  the  editor  of  "  The  Star  in  the  West,"  '"  that 
he  died  a  martyr  to  the  work  which  had  enlisted  his 
sympathies,  namely,  establishing  Buchtel  College  on  a 
permanent  basis.  He  subscribed  largely  and  liberally 
to  the  fund  for  its  erection,  and  was  an  unceasing 
worker  in  its  behalf.  His  widow,  since  his  death,  has 
been  a  substantial  helper  to  the  institution.  She  en- 
dowed the  chair  of  Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy,  in 
memory  of  her  husband,  to  the  amount  of  $25,000  ;  and 
has  also  contributed  largely  to  the  expenses  of  the 
institution,  and  given  again  and  again  for  various  spe- 
cial purposes."  : 

Rev.  John  Temple  Goodrich,  of  Middlefield,  Ot- 
sego County,  N.  Y.,  born  in  1815,  studied  theology 
with  Rev.  Stephen  R.  Smith.  In  1836,  when  less  than 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  was  settled  as  a  preacher  in 
Oxford,  Chenango  County,  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained 
about  twelve  years.  In  1850  he  was  called  to  the  pas- 
torate of  the  Universalist  Church  at  Canton,  N.  Y., 
where  he  remained  for  five  years,  doing  good  work 
there  and  in  neighboring  places.  An  affection  of  his 
throat  induced  him  to  accept  a  call  to  Reading,  Pa., 
where  he  labored  two  years,  and  where  his  influence 
was  strong   and   extended  as  it   had    been   elsewhere. 

1  "  Our  Woman  Workers,"  p.  353. 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  249 

After  this  he  was  persuaded  to  return  to  Canton,  and 
take  the  agency  of  the  new  Theological  School  and  Col- 
lege projected  at  that  place,  and  served  in  that  capacity 
for  five  years,  successfully,  preaching  in  the  mean  time 
in  Canton  and  elsewhere.  It  was  largely  through  his 
efforts  that  the  New  York  Legislature  appropriated 
$25,000  to  the  Canton  schools.  Released  from  this 
work,  he  became  pastor  of  the  Eighth  Street  Church, 
Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  four  years,  when  he 
left  them  out  of  debt  and  himself  out  of  health.  After 
an  interval  spent  in  travelling,  he  went  to  Wilmington, 
Del.,  and  supplied  that  missionary  station  for  about  two 
years. 

While  he  lived  in  Canton,  he  held  an  oral  discussion 
with  Rev.  Mr.  Wheeler,  Baptist,  which  continued  sev- 
eral evenings,  and  was  a  marked  success  on  the  part  of 
Mr.  Goodrich.  In  Wilmington  he  held  a  written  con- 
troversy with  Rev.  Mr.  Hoffman,  a  Presbyterian  minis- 
ter, a  success  also.  Years  before  this,  he  had  held  a 
written  and  oral  discussion  with  Rev.  Mr.  Dyer,  a  Pres- 
byterian, of  Preston,  N.  Y.,  which  gave  the  cause  of 
Universalism  an  impetus  in  that  place.  Mr.  Goodrich 
was  not  combative,  and  would  not  seek  a  controversy, 
nor  would  he  shrink  from  one  if  duty  called  him  to  engage 
in  it.  He  was  devotedly  attached  to  his  family,  and  was 
anxious  to  close  up  his  secular  concerns,  and  settle  down 
over  some  parish  where  the  labor  required  was  such  as 
his  health  would  enable  him  to  perform.  With  this  in- 
tent he  left  home  on  the  25th  of  September,  1871 ;  went 
to  Fulton,  then  to  Watertown,  to  Rochester,  and  to 
Chicago,  where  he  was  seen  by  acquaintances,  and 
where  his  name  was  entered  on  the  register  of  the 
Metropolitan  Hotel,  for   room    No.  36,  on  the  5th  of 


250  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

October,  and  where  it  afterwards  remained,  with  bill 
unsettled.  He,  with  many  others,  perished  in  the 
dreadful  conflagration  at  that  time. 

Rev.  Franklin  Charles  Flint  was  born  in  Nelson, 
N.  H.,  June  16,  1830,  and  died  in  Shrewsbury,  Mass., 
March  23, 1876.  In  1840  his  family  moved  to  Hancock, 
N.  H.,  and  in  1812  to  Shrewsbury,  Mass.,  where  he 
worked  on  his  father's  farm  and  attended  a  district 
school.  At  an  early  age  he  was  quite  studious,  and 
desired  a  classical  education.  He  went  through  his 
preparatory  course  at  Thetford  (Vt.)  Academy,  and  in 
1857  entered  Amherst  College.  But,  after  spending 
two  years  there,  he  left,  entered  at  Tufts,  and  graduated 
in  1861,  the  third  in  a  class  of  twelve,  with  a  philosophi- 
cal oration.  He  was  enabled  to  work  his  way  through 
college  by  gaining,  in  a  competitive  examination,  one  of 
the  scholarships  granted  by  the  State  of  Massachusetts 
to  Tufts  College,  and  by  what  he  could  earn  in  teach- 
ing school  during  his  vacations.  Upon  graduating,  he 
took  charge  of  the  high  school  in  Westboro,  Mass.,  and 
in  the  mean  time  turned  his  attention  to  theology.  He 
preached  his  first  sermon  at  Groton  (now  Ayer  Junc- 
tion). In  1863  he  preached  in  Dana  and  vicinity,  teach- 
ing meanwhile  a  select  school.  In  1864-5  he  taught  a 
select  school  at  Hyannis,  Mass.,  and  afterwards  was 
assistant  in  the  academy  at  Dudley.  In  1865  he  re- 
moved to  Chatham,  on  Cape  Cod,  where  he  was  ordained, 
July  31,  1866.  In  1867  he  became  pastor  of  the  Uni- 
versalist  Society  in  Southbridge,  Mass.,  where  he  proved 
himself  a  faithful  minister,  a  useful  member  of  the 
school  committee,  an  efficient  worker  in  the  temperance 
cause,  and  by  his  active  interest  and  co-operation  in 


'SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  251 

every  good  work,  and  by  his  frank  and  genial  manners, 
won  the  respect  and  good  will  of  the  people  in  and  out 
of  his  parish.  In  1874  he  took  charge  of  the  Willow 
Park  Seminary,  at  Westboro,  Mass.,  but  resigned  after 
one  year.  He  preached  for  short  periods  at  Oxford  and 
Rockport.  In  1871  he  prepared  for  the  press  a  memoir 
of  the  late  Rev.  W.  W.  Wilson,  one  of  his  predecessors 
in  the  pastorate  at  Southbridge.  In  1875  he  took  charge 
of  the  Universalist  Society  in  Attleboro,  Mass.,  but 
failing  health  compelled  him  to  resign  the  position  in 
March,  1876.  His  people  voted  him  leave  of  absence, 
hoping  he  might  recover,  and  he  went  to  his  father's  in 
Shrewsbury,  but  he  rapidly  grew  worse,  until  death 
came  to  his  relief.  His  record  is  with  that  of  "  the 
faithful  in  Christ  Jesus." 

Rev.  HorE  Bain  was  a  Scotchman  by  birth,  from 
Aberdeen.  His  father,  once  an  officer  in  the  British 
nav}r,  removed  with  his  family  to  Maryland,  and  died 
in  Baltimore  in  1812.  The  son  served  during  the  war 
of  1812,  3'oung  as  he  was  (fifteen),  as  a  member  of  a 
Baltimore  company  of  volunteers  attached  to  the  5th 
regiment,  and  was  in  the  battles  of  Bladensburg  and 
West  Point.  He  was  at  first  a  Presbyterian,  and  mem- 
ber of  that  church  for  many  years.  In  1830  he  was 
appointed  an  agent  to  labor  in  West  Tennessee,  and  in 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  for  the  American  Sunday- 
School  Union.  He  became  a  Universalist  in  1817, 
and  was  ordained  a  preacher  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  in  1818. 
He  was  for  fifteen  years  a  teacher  in  Virginia.  He 
moved  to  North  Carolina,  in  December,  1851,  and 
preached,  before  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  in  twenty-six 
counties,  and,  after  the  war,  in  six  other  counties.     His 


252  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

last  sermon  was  in  Goldsboro,  in  1875.  Anticipating 
his  approaching  departure,  he  said  that  at  the  age  of 
eighty-one  he  could  not  expect  to  remain  here  much 
longer,  nor  did  he  desire  to.  He  was  nearing  a  home 
where  he  should  be  united  to  loved  ones  gone  before. 
He  was  widely  known  in  North  Carolina.  He  was  a 
Union  man  in  the  strictest  sense,  thoroughly  loyal  to 
the  government  during  the  late  war,  which  alienated 
from  him  many  of  his  former  associates  and  hearers, 
but  he  never  wavered  in  devotion  to  his  country,  and 
to  the  cause  of  the  Christian  Gospel.  Although  without 
pecuniary  resources,  he  continued  to  preach  wherever 
there  was  an  opening,  and  with  little  or  no  remuneration 
labored  faithfully  and  steadfastly  in  the  ministry  as  long 
as  health  and  strength  lasted.  His  faith  uplifted  and 
sustained  him  as  he  passed  from  these  earthly  scenes. 

Rev.  Woodbuey  M.  Fernald  was  for  several  years 
a  prominent  preacher  with  the  Universalists.  He  was 
born  in  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  March  21,  1813,  and  died 
in  Boston,  Mass.,  Dec.  10,  1873.  He  was  ordained  at 
Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  in  1836.  In  1838  he  was  pastor  at 
Cabotville  (now  Chicopee),  Mass.  In  1840  and  1841 
he  was  located  at  Newbury  port,  and  while  there  pub- 
lished a  volume  entitled  "  Universalis™  against  Partial- 
ism,"  an  able  statement  of  the  contrast  set  forth.  He 
was  next  in  Stoneham  as  pastor  for  three  years.  In 
1854  he  removed  to  Boston,  and  becoming  interested 
in  the  works  of  Swedenborg  and  the  writings  of  An- 
drew Jackson  Davis,  he  was  after  a  while  ordained  as 
a  Swedenborgian  minister.  He  was  so  fascinated  by 
the  New  Church  doctrines  as  to  become  alienated  from 
his  former  associates  and  lost  to  their  ministry.    He  pub- 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  253 

lished,  in  1854,  a  "Compendium  of  the  Theological  and 
Spiritual  Writings  of  Swedenborg,"  and  in  1859,  "  God 
in  His  Providence,"  in  which  he  implicitly  renounced 
the  notion  of  "  the  eternity  of  Hell,"  and  put  forth  a 
Universalist  view  of  human  destiny,  turning  Sweden- 
borg's  principles  against  the  Seer's  own  conclusions, 
and  making  those  principles  the  ground  of  an  assurance 
of  Universal  Restoration.  He  published  afterwards 
other  works,  evincing  much  ability.  His  sincerity  was 
never  doubted. 

Rev.  Caleb  Perin  Mallory  was  a  minister  of  the 
Universalist  faith  in  Canada  during  most  of  his  life. 
He  died  at  Huntingville,  P.  Q.,  July  13,  1882,  aged 
seventy-one. 

He  was  born  in  Eaton,  C.  E.  His  early  training  was 
under  the  influence  of  the  theology  after  the  kind  taught 
by  Calvin  and  Arminius.  Being  of  a  thoughtful  and 
studious  disposition,  however,  he  came  to  see  in  the 
teachings  of  the  New  Testament  strong  and  unmistaka- 
ble evidences  of  the  Gospel  of  Universalism.  When 
about  thirty  years  old  he  appeared  before  the  public  as 
an  advocate  of  it.  Rev.  L.  H.  Tabor,  who  officiated  at 
the  funeral,  gave  the  following  account : ; — 

"  As  nearly  as  I  can  learn,  he  preached  some  three  years  in 
various  places  to  good  acceptance,  and  was  ordained  at 
Glover,  Vt.,  Sept.  19,  1843,  and  in  just  one  year  from  the 
time  of  ordination  (Sept.  19,  1844),  was  installed  at  the 
request  of  several  brethren  residing  in  as  many  of  the 
eastern  townships  over  which  he  was  installed.  For  several 
years  he  preached  regularly  at  Huntingville  and  other  places 
in  the  vicinity,  and  for  over  forty  years  had  attended  funerals 
and  weddings,  baptizing  children  and  adults  as  the  disciples 
of  Jesus,  the  Saviour  of  the  world.     He  was  a  Christian  re- 


254  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

former,  ready  for  every  good  word  and  work.  No  one  man  could 
have  been  taken  from  that  community  whose  departure  will 
be  felt  more.  And  when  we  saw  the  multitude  that  gathered 
at  his  burial,  with  weeping  eyes,  we  were  led  to  say,  '  Behold, 
how  they  loved  him.'  It  was  said,  by  good  judges,  that  there 
were  a  thousand  people  at  his  funeral,  some  coming  the  dis- 
tance of  fifty  miles. 

"Brother  Mallory  was  a  man  of  great  energy  of  character, 
often  travelling  and  preaching  under  such  adverse  circum- 
stances as  would  have  discouraged  others  of  less  inherent 
power.  His  compensation  for  services  has  been  compara- 
tively small,  but,  sustained  by  the  ministry  of  the  reconcilia- 
tion, he  fainted  not,  occupying  till  the  Master  came." 


In  the  yearly  Universalist  "  Register,"  the  names  of 
nearly  thirt}^  women  are  given  as  ministers,  —  evange- 
lists or  with  pastorates,  —  in  the  Universalist  Church.1 
Among  the  number  of  those  who  have  served  in  this 
capacity,  the  record  is  made  of  the  death  of  the  follow- 
ing :  — 

Mrs.  Elvira  J.  Powers.  She  came  into  the  min- 
istry from  the  Canton  Theological  School  as  a  licentiate 
of  the  New  York  Convention.  At  the  end  of  six  months 
she  was  compelled  to  give  up  her  work  on  account  of 

1  The  first  Universalist  woman  who  appeared  in  the  pulpit  as  a 
preacher  of  the  Gospel  was  Miss  Maria  Cook,  who  preached  before  the 
Western  Association  in  Bainbridge,  N.  Y.,  in  June,  1811.  She  is  spoken 
of  by  Rev.  Stephen  R.  Smith,  in  his  "Historical  Sketches"  (Vol.  I. 
pp.  31,  32).  Notwithstanding  the  good  impressions  made  by  her  as  a 
speaker,  there  were  those  who  deemed  "  so  extraordinary  an  undertak- 
ing as  an  evidence  of  mental  alienation!"  A  more  enlightened  and 
candid  judgment  in  reference  to  this  subject  has  since  prevailed. 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  255 

ill-health,  and  was  not  able  afterwards  to  resume  it. 
During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  in  the  office  of  nurse, 
she  rendered  good  service,  and  wrote  an  interesting 
book  of  her  experiences,  entitled  "  Hospital  Pencillings." 
A  friend  and  former  pastor  speaks  of  her  personal  worth 
in  very  strong  terms.  "  In  fidelity  to  her  conviction  of 
duty,  in  her  industry,  zeal,  and  integrity,  in  her  con- 
stant sacrifice  of  the  superficial  and  temporal  for  the 
profound  and  eternal,  her  life  was  a  great  success." 
She  died  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  Sept.  21,  1871. 

Rev.  Fanny  Upham  Roberts,  daughter  of  Frederic 
and  Hannah  R.  Cogswell,  both  of  whom  were  preachers 
in  the  "  Christian  Connection,"  was  born  in  South  Ber- 
wick, Me.,  in  June,  1834.  She  joined  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  Northwood,  N.  H.,  and  was  for  some 
time  a  superintendent  of  a  Baptist  Sunday-school.  She 
had,  however,  from  a  child  been  acquainted  with  the 
Universalist  faith.  In  1870  she  began  to  give  lectures 
in  public  on  lyceum  topics,  and  not  long  afterwards 
commenced  preaching  in  Kensington,  N.  H.,  and  Wells, 
Me.  In  the  spring  of  1871  she  removed  to  Kittery,  Me. 
(where  she  had  been  ordained),  and  preached  there 
until  April,  1875,  when  from  loss  of  voice  she  resigned 
her  post,  and  went  to  Minnesota,  hoping  to  regain  her 
health.  But  the  change  of  climate  failed  to  arrest  her 
disease,  and  she  steadily  declined  until  death  came  to 
her  relief.  She  died  in  Winona,  Minn.,  Aug.  26,  1875. 
Her  friends  testify  to  her  vigor  of  mind,  her  goodness 
of  heart,  and  the  graceful  modest)'  and  sweet  womanly 
dignity  that  ever  shone  out  in  her  life.  An  intelligent 
member  of  the  Universalist  congregation  of  Portsmouth, 
N.  H.,  once  informed  the  writer  that  in  listening  to  her 


256  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

discourses,  as  he  did  occasionally,  he  was  forcibly  re- 
minded of  the  logical  clearness  and  strength  of  the  elder 
Ballou. 

Rev.  Prudy  Le  Clerc  Haskell  was  born  in  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  Feb.  6,  1844,  and  died  in  Oxford,  O.,  Dec. 
27,  1878.  In  her  youthful  days  she  was  thoughtful,  in- 
telligent, and  studious.  Her  parents  were  Universalists 
in  sentiment,  and  her  mind  was  impressed  by  the  influ- 
ences of  their  religious  faith.  An  only  brother,  who 
had  intended  to  enter  the  Universalist  ministry,  died  in 
a  Southern  prison  during  the  war,  and  she  felt  herself 
called  to  take  the  place  which  he  would  have  filled. 
She  was  ordained  at  Madison,  Ind.,  Oct.  14,  1869, 
where  she  preached  two  years,  and  succeeded  in  gather- 
ing the  scattered  remnants  of  a  former  congregation  into 
a  living  form.  She  then  went  to  Mt.  Pleasant,  Iowa, 
and  labored  there  successfully  for  two  years,  greatly  en- 
dearing herself  to  the  people  ;  but  the  climate  proving 
unfavorable  to  her,  she  was  obliged  to  leave  and  return 
to  the  home  of  her  parents  in  Aurora,  Ind.  She  was 
afterwards  settled  at  Mt.  Carmel,  Ind.,  at  Jefferson ville 
and  Newtown,  O.,  and  at  Covington,  Ky.  She  was  an 
attractive  and  interesting  preacher,  and  very  popular  as 
a  pastor.  While  residing  in  Covington,  she  was  united 
in  marriage  to  Mr.  Cassius  L.  Haskell,  who  afterwards 
entered  the  ministry.  She  had  been  married  but  a 
single  year  when  her  earthly  life  ended.  The  remem- 
brance of  an  evening  with  her  at  a  meeting  in  Mt.  Car- 
mel, O.,  is  very  vivid  in  the  mind  of  the  writer.  She 
had  been  deeply  interested  in  a  new  church  organization 
there,  and  had  induced  a  good  number  of  young  believ- 
ers to  become  members.  Her  welcome  and  counsel  to 
them  were  pervaded  with  the  Christian  spirit. 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  257 


Living  Ministers. 

It  has  been  thought  advisable  to  append  to  this  record 
of  the  departed  the  names  of  a  few  of  the  living  min- 
isters, now  advanced  in  years,  who  have  earned  an 
honorable  reputation  by  their  works  during  the  time 
included  in  the  survey  here  taken.  It  would  have  been 
agreeable  to  the  writer  if  the  number  of  such  could 
have  been  increased,  but  this  was  forbidden  by  the 
limits  prescribed  to  this  volume.  Besides,  as  already 
stated,  it  will  be  understood  that  this  historical  sketch- 
ing is  by  no  means  exhausted  ;  that  there  is  another  and 
a  larger  roll  of  those  passed  on,  who  have  done  faithful 
service  in  the  redeeming  army,  as  there  is  a  noble  com- 
pany of  the  living  who  are  yet  adding  their  good  work 
to  the  history  of  the  church,  and  whose  names  and 
deeds  may  in  some  future  day  be  truthfully  and  grate- 
fully given  to  an  appreciative  public.  For  this  brief  re- 
view we  are  able  to  take  of  the  faithful  dead  and  living, 
let  us  be  thankful. 

One  of  the  most  asred  living  ministers  of  the  Universa- 
list  Church  is  Rev.  Clement  Fall  Le  Fevbe,  D.  D.,  of 
Milwaukee,  Wis.  He  was  born  in  Berkhamstead,  Coun- 
ty of  Hertfordshire,  England,  Nov.  12,  1797.  He  was 
christened  in  the  parish  church,  as  was  the  poet  Cowper, 
who  was  a  native  of  the  same  county.  The  father  of  Mr. 
Le  Fevre  was  a  clergyman  and  graduate  of  Oxford  Uni- 
versity, and  was  acquainted  with  the  distinguished  poet, 
and  always  held  his  works  in  high  estimation.  In  1811 
Mr.  Le  Fevre  had  a  commission  in  the  British  navy  as 
second  lieutenant  of  the  Royal  Marines,  and  was  ap- 
pointed  to  a  frigate  and  sailed  for  Halifax.     His  war 

17 


258  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

record  was  a  short  one,  however,  for  with  the  peace  of 
1815  he  was  put  on  half-pay.  He  was  never  in  any  en- 
gagement with  the  enemy,  and,  as  he  writes,  "  my  sword 
was  never  stained  with  American  blood,  and  theirs  was 
never  stained  with  mine,  and  that  I  consider  the 
better."  Having  no  particular  employment,  he  was  for 
some  time  adrift  as  to  a  life-calling,  but  subsequently 
inclined  to  his  father's  profession,  and  in  nautical  phrase 
"  bore  up  for  a  parson."  His  father  was  educating 
some  young  men  for  the  Universities,  and  the  son  joined 
in  their  classes.  Having  by  this  means  obtained  some 
knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek,  he  received  ordination, 
and  was  adopted  by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts.  This  was  in  the  year 
1821.  His  appointment  was  to  a  church  in  Canada,  in 
the  diocese  of  Quebec,  where  he  remained  until  the 
close  of  the  year  1829,  when,  rejecting  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity  and  endless  punishment  for  the  sins  of  this 
life,  he  withdrew  from  the  ministry  and  communion  of 
the  Church  of  England. 

He  next  removed  to  New  York,  and  made  his  home 
at  Hempstead,  L.  I.,  the  native  place  of  his  wife  ;  and 
here  and  at  several  places  on  the  island  and  in  the  city 
of  New  York  he  frequently  preached.  In  1880  he  re- 
ceived fellowship  of  the  Universalists,  at  the  New  York 
and  Philadelphia  Association,  met  at  New  Brunswick, 
N.  J.  He  was  next  pastor  four  years  in  Troy,  N.  Y.,  six 
in  New  York  city,  four  in  Hudson,  and  six  in  Mil- 
waukee, Wis.  In  the  last-named  place  he  purchased  a 
farm  and  settled  down  for  the  enjo}Tment  of  a  perma- 
nent home.  Although  having  no  special  pastorate,  he 
has  been  doing  much  missionary  work,  has  constantly 
attended  the  meetings  of  the  church,  and  often  written 


m    I 


yl/u  cv  w> 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  259 

for  its  publications.  His  health  at  this  present  writing 
is  quite  firm  for  one  of  his  years,  a  slight  failure  of  eye- 
sight and  a  partial  paralysis  of  the  right  hand  being  his 
principal  infirmity. 

Mr.  Le  Fevre  enjoys  a  deservedly  high  reputation. 
His  pulpit  talents  have  always  been  appreciated  by  his 
congregations.  His  discourses  have  indicated  a  keen 
and  well-balanced  mind,  logical  force,  and  ripe  scholar- 
ship. In  social  life  he  has  always  exerted  a  salutary 
influence  ;  his  wit  and  humor  being  admirable  accom- 
paniments of  his  gentlemanly  dignity  and  sympathetic 
spirit.  He  has  proved  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the 
church  whose  pleasure  it  is  to  make  this  truthful  record 
of  him. 

Rev.  Lucius  Robinson  Paige,  D.  D.,  is,  with  two 
exceptions,1  the  oldest  living  minister  in  the  Universa- 
list  Church.  He  was  born  in  Hardwick,  Mass.,  March 
8,  1802,  and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  his 
native  village.  On  reaching  his  majority  he  began  his 
work  as  a  preacher,  and  did  some  effective  missionary 
work  as  a  layman.  In  1825  he  was  ordained,  and  was 
settled  at  Springfield,  Mass.,  where  he  remained  four 
3'ears.  During  this  time,  his  faith  being  assailed  by 
two  ministers  of  the  Methodist  church,  Rev.  Timothy 
Merritt  and  Rev.  Wilbur  Fisk,  Mr.  Paige  entered  into 
a  controversy  with  them,  and  proved  himself  an  able 
advocate  and  defender  of  the  Christian  Gospel.  The 
debate  still  exists  in  pamphlet  form,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  pithy  and  searching  that  can  be  found.  The 
spirit  and  behavior  of  the  bigoted  opponents  of  Univer- 

1  Rev.  Thomas  G.  Famsworth  of  Waltham,  Mass.,  ordained  in  1822, 
and  Rev.  Alvin  Dinstuore  of  Woodland,  Cal.,  ordained  in  1823. 


260  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

salism  are  strikingly  illustrated,  as  well  as  the  readiness 
and  efficienc}7  of  the  assailed  one  to  meet  and  to  deal 
with  them.  Mr.  Paige  was  next  minister  in  Rockport, 
and  removed  from  there  to  Cambridgeport,  where  he 
was  installed  pastor  of  the  First  Universalist  Society 
July  8,  1832.  He  held  this  position  until  1839,  after 
which  he  took  no  pastorate,  but  continued  to  preach 
frequently  for  more  than  twenty  years  afterwards,  and 
has  been  active  in  the  ministry  until  within  a  few 
years. 

In  1833  he  published  his  "Selections  from  Eminent 
Commentators,"  a  work  showing  most  conclusively  the 
admission  on  the  part  of  orthodox  writers  of  the  very 
ground  taken  by  Universalists  in  their  explanation  of 
many  passages  of  Scripture  supposed  to  stand  in  opposi- 
tion to  Universalism.  It  was  a  strong  call  upon  all  can- 
did inquirers  after  Christian  truth,  and  has  made  its 
impress  in  the  progress  of  Christian  thought  since  it 
was  issued.  In  1838  he  published  "  Questions  on 
Select  Portions  of  the  Gospels,"  designed  for  Sunday 
schools  and  Bible  classes.  His  greatest  work,  however, 
is  his  Commentary  on  the  New  Testament,  the  first  vol- 
ume of  which  was  published  in  1844,  and  the  last  in 
1870.  The  work  is  the  result  of  sound  judgment,  care- 
ful research  and  close  thought,  and  is  a  monument  of 
the  steady  and  untiring  industry  of  the  writer.  It  has 
been  highly  acceptable  to  those  on  whose  behalf  it  was 
prepared.  While  engaged  upon  it,  he  also  contributed 
to  the  denominational  papers,  and  gathered  materials  for 
the  history  of  Cambridge,  which  was  published  in  1877. 

He  has  also  been  actively  engaged  in  secular  pursuits. 
He  was  town  clerk  from  March,  1839,  to  January,  1840, 
and  from   March,  1843,  to    May,  1846,  and  city  clerk 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  261 

from  May,  1846,  to  October,  1855,  and  representative  in 
the  General  Court  in  1878  and  1879.  He  was  treasurer 
of  the  Cambridgeport  Savings  Bank  from  April,  1855, 
to  April,  1871,  and  has  been  cashier  and  president  of 
the  Cambridge  Bank.  He  received  the  degree  of 
A.  M.  from  Harvard  in  1850,  and  D.  D.  from  Tufts  in 
1861.  Although  he  has  retired  from  business,  during 
the  past  few  years  Dr.  Paige  has  given  much  attention 
to  the  preparation  of  a  history  of  his  native  town,  Hard- 
wick,  and  after  many  years  of  hard  work  the  task  is 
completed  and  the  manuscript  is  now  ready  for  the 
printer.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  Histori- 
cal Society,  and  one  of  the  oldest  on  the  roll ;  also  of  the 
American  Antiquarian  and  Phi  Beta  Kappa  societies. 

As  a  Mason  he  has  stood  high.  He  joined  the  Order 
in  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  in  1824,  became  Worshipful  Mas- 
ter of  the  Hard  wick  Lodge  in  1826,  having  previously 
been  exalted  to  the  Royal  Arch  degree  at  Greenwich, 
and  having  joined  the  Knights  Templars  in  1824.  He 
is  now  the  oldest  Past  Commander  of  the  Knights  Tem- 
plars within  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  and 
Rhode  Island.  He  became  Steward  of  the  Most  Wor- 
shipful Grand  Lodge  of  Massachusetts  in  1848,  and  dea- 
con in  1850.  The  year  following  he  was  elected  right 
worshipful  deputy  grand  master.  Upon  retiring  from 
that  position,  he  became  a  permanent  member,  and  is 
now  the  oldest  surviving  permanent  member  of  the 
Grand  Lodge.  In  1861  he  received  the  thirty-third 
degree  Scottish,  and  was  at  once  admitted  a  member 
of  the  Supreme  Council.  Here  he  served  as  Secretary 
two  years,  and  Minister  of  State  three  years.  He  is 
now,  as  he  has  been  for*  nineteen  years  past,  resident 
representative  of  the  Supreme  Council  of  Belgium. 


262  FIFTY  NOTABLE  YEARS. 

One  of  the  most  noticeable  events  in  the  life  of  Dr. 
Paige  was  that  of  the  celebration  of  his  eightieth  birth- 
day, in  the  vestry  of  the  Universalist  Church  in  Cam- 
bridgeport,  on  the  evening  of  March  8,  1882.  A  large 
company  was  assembled,  and  after  a  feast  at  the  tables, 
very  impressive  exercises  followed.  Rev.  O.  A.  Saf- 
ford,  pastor  of  the  Universalist  Church,  presided,  and 
introduced  Dr.  Paige  to  the  company,  who  heard  from 
him  a  very  appropriate  and  affecting  address.  The 
assembly  was  then  addressed  by  Mayor  Fox  of  Cam- 
bridge, Rev.  Dr.  Mc  Kenzie  of  the  Congregational 
church,  Rev.  Drs.  Sawyer,  Adams,  Miner,  and  Capen, 
Rev.  C.  A.  Skinner,  J.  A.  Jacobs,  Esq.,  the  city  clerk, 
and  Capt.  J.  W.  Cotton.  A  letter,  expressive  of  his 
sincere  and  hearty  respect  for  Dr.  Paige,  was  read  from 
Professor  Longfellow.  A  handsome  illustrated  copy  of 
Longfellow's  Poems  was  presented  to  the  doctor,  bear- 
ing this  inscription:  "Presented  by  a  few  old  friends, 
with  their  congratulations  and  best  wishes  on  the  80th 
anniversary  of  his  birthday." 

On  Monday,  May  1,  1882,  the  Columbus  Avenue 
Universalist  Church  celebrated  the  thirty-fourth  anni- 
versary of  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Alonzo  Ames  Miner, 
D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  who  entered  upon  his  duties  as  a  col- 
league of  the  late  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou,  pastor  of  the 
Second  Universalist  Society  in  Boston,  in  place  of  Rev. 
Dr.  E.  H.  Chapin,  called  to  New  York.  Mr.  Miner 
was  born  in  Lempster,  N.  H.,  Aug,  17,  1814.  His 
ancestors  on  both  sides  were  distinguished  by  good 
sense  and  firm  physical  constitutions.  His  remote 
American  forefather,  Thomas  Miner,  landed  at  Bos- 
ton in  the  same  year  with  the  elder  Winthrop  (1630), 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  263 

and  removed  to  Connecticut  with  the  company  of 
the  younger  Winthrop  about  1646.  His  grandfather, 
Charles  Miner,  served  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
removed  to  New  Hampshire  soon  after  its  close. 
Thomas  Miner,  his  ancestor,  was  a  descendant  of  Henry 
Bulman  of  the  Mendip  Hills,  Somersetshire,  England, 
who  furnished  Edward  III.,  when  on  his  way  to  embark 
for  the  wars  of  France,  with  an  escort  of  one  hundred 
men,  selected  from  his  servants  and  from  the  men  em- 
ployed in  his  mines.  For  this  service  the  king  honored 
him  with  a  coat  of  arms,  and  changed  his  name  to 
Miner. 

Dr.  Miner  was  so  feeble  in  his  youth  that  it  seemed 
doubtful  whether  he  would  grow  up  into  mature  life. 
But  good  care  and  judicious  training  wrought  a  change 
for  the  better,  which  was  doubtless  aided  by  a  vigorous 
will.  His  education  was  gained  at  village  schools  and 
academies  in  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont.  He  began 
teaching  between  terms  when  he  was  sixteen  years  of 
age,  and  in  1835  took  entire  charge  of  the  Scientific  and 
Military  Academy  at  Unity,  N.  H.  His  first  discourse 
in  the  pulpit  was  deliverd  in  February,  1838.  In  1839 
he  received  ordination,  and  was  settled  in  Methuen, 
Mass.  In  1842  he  removed  to  Lowell,  where  he  be- 
came an  efficient  yoke-fellow  with  the  pastor  of  the 
First  Universalist  Church,  and  where  they  made  good 
proof  of  their  ministry  in  the  pulpit  and  through  the 
press.  Dr.  Miner  remained  in  Lowell  as  pastor  of  the 
Second  Society  until  the  removal  of  Rev.  E.  H.  Chapin 
from  Boston  to  New  York,  when  he  was  called  to  take 
his  place  as  colleague  with  Rev.  Hosea  Ballon  at  the 
Universalist  Church  in  School  St.  On  the  death  of  Mr. 
Ballou,  he  became  pastor  of  the  church,  which  office  he 


264  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

still  retains.  His  health  failing  him  partially  in  1851, 
he  visited  Europe,  and  on  his  return  found  that  his 
church  edifice  had  been  remodelled  during  his  absence, 
at  a  cost  of  $20,000.  Subsequently,  in  1872  the  build- 
ing in  School  Street  was  put  to  secular  uses,  and  the 
edifice  now  occupied  on  Columbus  Avenue  was  erected 
at  a  cost  of  $150,000.  During  his  long  pastorate,  two 
colleagues  have  been  settled  with  him,  Rev.  Roland 
Connor,  for  a  short  time,  and  Rev.  Henry  I.  Cushman, 
now  pastor  of  the  First  Universalist  Church  in  Provi- 
dence, R.  I. 

In  1862,  after  the  decease  of  Rev.  Dr.  Ballou,  Presi- 
dent of  Tufts  College,  Dr.  Miner  was  chosen  to  this 
office,  and  took  upon  himself  its  duties  in  connection 
with  his  work  as  pastor  in  Boston.  His  energy  seemed 
adequate  to  this  double  task  for  a  time,  until  it  became 
evident  to  him  and  his  friends  that  the  interests  of  both 
college  and  parish  required  his  main  attention  to  be 
given  to  but  one  of  them.  He  chose  the  parish,  to  the 
great  satisfaction  of  its  members,  and  Rev.  E.  H.  Capen, 
one  of  the  alumni  of  the  college,  was  elected  its  presi- 
dent. 

Through  his  past  life-course  Dr.  Miner  has  been  one 
of  the  most  indefatigable  of  toilers.  As  a  Christian 
minister  and  reformer  he  is  widely  known.  His  pulpit 
talents  are  of  the  highest  order.  His  clear,  strong,  and 
readily  modulated  voice,  his  sharp  logic,  often  "  on  fire," 
his  good  scholarship,  his  aptness  not  only  in  making  his 
points,  but  in  the  elucidation  of  them  ;  his  thorough  ac- 
quaintance with  the  evidences  of  his  faith,  and  especially 
with  the  scriptural  proofs  of  it ;  his  directness  in  strik- 
ing at  the  wrong,  as  he  perceives  it,  with  most  telling 
blows,  and  his  uncompromising  adherence  to  what  he 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  265 

considers  the  right,  are  sure  to  gain  him  a  respectful 
and  serious  hearing  wherever  he  comes  before  the  public. 
His  many  published  discourses  evince  his  power  as  a  the- 
ologian, and  his  little  volume,  "  The  Old.  Forts  Taken," 
embodies  a  searching  review  of  some  of  the  over-confi- 
dent statements  of  Rev.  Joseph  Cook  on  the  religious 
signs  of  the  times.  It  would  have  been  well  for  Christian 
truth,  and  for  some  of  the  churches  professing  it,  whose 
representatives  so  readily  applauded  many  of  the  stirring 
and  sensational  words  of  Mr.  Cook  at  the  moment  of 
their  utterance  in  Boston,  could  they  have  listened  also  to 
a  close  and  rigid  questioning  of  them  by  Dr.  Miner.  The 
Universalist  Church  generally,  we  think,  would  be  quite 
willing  to  abide  by  the  presentation  of  its  faith  and  the 
claims  of  it,  by  him.  At  a  conversation  circle,  embrac- 
ing members  of  the  "  Radical  Club,"  held  in  Boston 
within  a  few  years,  where  all  shades  of  religious  opinion 
were  represented,  the  question  "  Is  Christianity  a  Fi- 
nality ?  "  or,  in  substance,  can  any  religion  superior  to 
it  be  given  to  man  ?  was  proposed  for  consideration. 
After  various  discussions  on  the  subject  from  the  purest 
orthodoxy  to  the  most  radical  "  liberalism,"  Dr.  Miner, 
who  had  come  in  while  the  subject  was  under  discussion, 
was  invited  by  the  chairman  to  speak.  His  statements 
were  very  readily  made,  viz.  that  the  Christianity  of  the 
New  Testament  included  the  best  religion  conceivable 
by  man,  meeting  his  deepest  spiritual  wants,  answering 
his  highest  aspirations  after  the  purest  life  here,  and  his 
most  anxious  hopes  respecting  the  future  of  himself  and 
the  race.  All  this  is  presented,  and  its  complete  fulfil- 
ment with  all  souls  assured  through  Christ,  the  promise 
of  whose  mission  is,  that  ultimately  "  God  shall  be  all  in 
all."  If  Christianity  is  true,  therefore,  it  will  have  no 
successor.     The  discussion  was  at  an  end. 


266  FIFTY  NOT  ABIE   YEARS. 

As. a  Christian  reformer  Dr.  Miner  has  gained  a  de- 
served prominence.  He  has  been  outspoken  on  the 
subject  of  Capital  Punishment,  advocating  its  abolish- 
ment, and  in  the  Anti-slavery  war  proved  himself  one  of 
the  veterans.  It  is  in  the  Temperance  reform,  however, 
that  he  has  taken  a  strong  and  marked  interest.  As  ail 
advocate  of  Prohibition  he  is  one  of  the  leaders  in  the 
land.  The  pamphlet  on  Prohibition,  published  in  1867, 
containing  his  arguments  on  the  subject  before  the 
Massachusetts  Legislative  Committee  in  the  Represen- 
tatives' Hall,  is  one  of  the  most  readable  documents  of 
the  times.1  His  ready  answers  to  the  questions  proposed 
to  him,  and  his  telling  questions  pressed  upon  the  advo- 
cates of  liquor  license  laws,  on  that  occasion,  evinced  a 
mastery  of  the  situation  not  often  realized.  In  temper- 
ance conventions  and  conferences  he  has  often  some 
searching  criticisms  on  the  city  officials  in  their  evasions 
of  the  laws  respecting  the  liquor  traffic  ;  and  on  every 
available  occasion  when  called  to  speak  on  the  moral 
needs  of  the  State  and  the  moral  responsibility  of  the 
people,  he  is  quite  sure  to  give  a  few  ringing  notes  em- 
phasizing the  temperance  reform.  Dr.  Miner  has  been 
for  ten  years  past  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Tem- 
perance Alliance. 

As  an  educator  Dr.  Miner  has  done  good  work.  He 
began  it  early,  and  has  never  lost  interest  in  it.  As 
president  of  the  college,  a  member  of  the  State  Board  of 
Education,  and  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Visitors  of  the 
Normal  Art  School,  he  has  been  true  to  it  constantly. 

His  business  talent  is  well  known.  He  is  a  safe  and 
far-seeing  financier,  to  whom  the  interests  of  the  busy 

1  "Argument  on  the  Right  and  Duty  of  Prohibition."  By  A.  A. 
Miner,  April  2,  1867. 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  267 

movers  "  on  'change  "  are  somewhat  familiar.  In  all 
financial  plans  and  operations  demanding  his  action  he 
is  especially  and  effectively  at  home.  He  is  President 
of  the  Universalist  Publishing  House,  and  is  still  one  of 
the  trustees  of  Tufts  College.  The  degree  of  D.  D.  was 
conferred  upon  him  by  Harvard  College,  and  that  of 
LL.  D.  by  Tufts  soon  after  his  resignation  of  the  presi- 
dency of  that  institution.  He  was  one  of  the"  Hundred 
Boston  Orators  ; "'  having  been  called  to  deliver  the  ora- 
tion before  the  authorities  and  citizens  of  Boston,  July 
4,  1855. 

The  positiveness  and  persistence  of  Dr.  Miner  have 
sometimes  had  the  effect  to  alienate  rather  than  concili- 
ate those  who  might  conscientiously  differ  from  him  in 
their  convictions  of  right  and  duty.  It  is  to  be  la- 
mented, however,  that  where  we  find  one  possessing  his 
degree  of  positiveness  in  what  he  believes  to  be  right, 
we  are  more  or  less  "  troubled  on  every  side  "  by  those 
who  are  only  half-men  because  of  the  low  policies  and 
expediencies  hy  which  they  are  governed.  His  confi- 
dence in  the  right  seems  instinctive  ;  as  he  says,  "  A 
mountain  can  be  tunnelled  ;  a  principle  never."  A 
Boston  secular  journal  just  now  speaks  of  him  :  — 

"  His  honesty  nobody  has  ever  questioned.  If  he  hit  hard, 
he  hit  where  he  believed  hard  hitting  was  warranted  and  in- 
dispensable. It  is  fortunate  for  the  world,  perhaps,  that  he 
took  a  liberal  side  in  theology.  Had  he  been  a  Calvin ist,  he 
would  have  been  as  uncompromising  as  any  one  of  those 
Puritan  inflexibles  who  drove  Baptists  into  Rhode  Island  and 
Quakers  into  eternity  ;  had  he  embraced  Catholicism,  heretics 
would  have  fared  the  worse  for  it,  and  he  could  hardly  have 
found  his  fitting  place  anywhere  short  of  the  college  of  cardi- 
nals, with  its  possibilities  toward  the  chair  of  St.  Peter.     J5y 


268  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

the  same  qualities  that  make  him  a  terror  to  his  enemies,  he 
binds  his  followers  to  him  with  hooks  of  steel."  ' 

Rev.  Thomas  Jeffersox  Sawyer,  D.  D.,  was  born 
in  Reading,  Windsor  Co.,  Vt.,  Jan.  9, 1804.  His  father 
was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  town,  having  re- 
moved with  his  father's  family  from  Pomfret,  Conn. 
The  son  enjoyed  very  good  advantages  for  acquiring  a 
common-school  education,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
had  gained  such  a  mastery  of  the  branches  then  taught 
in  such  schools  as  to  become  a  teacher,  in  which  capa- 
city he  served  three  or  four  months  every  year  until  he 
entered  his  profession.  He  entered  Middlebury  College 
in  the  autumn  of  1825,  having  completed  his  preparation 
after  he  was  twenty-one,  and  graduated  in  1829.  As 
there  were  no  theological  schools  to  aid  him,  he  went 
to  study  with  Rev.  William  S.  Balch,  then  at  Winches- 
ter, N.  H.,  who  was  soon  called  to  Albany.  Mr.  S. 
remained  in  Winchester  through  the  winter,  preaching 
occasionally,  reading  the  Iliad  of  Homer,  and  studying 
such  theological  works  as  he  had  opportunity  to  find. 

In  April,  1830,  he  went  to  New  York,  and  took 
charge  of  a  small  society  there  in  Grand  Street.  The 
chapel  in  which  he  preached  had  been  built  and  was  for 
several  years  occupied  as  an  Episcopal  church.  It  was 
afterwards  purchased  by  the  Universalists. 

In  1832  Mr.  Sawyer  entered  upon  his  ministry  with 
his  people  in  a  new  place,  a  church  on  Orchard  Street. 
The  church  was  built  three  or  four  years  before  by 
a  small  society  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  from 
which  the  property  fell  into  the  hands  of  two  enter- 
prising builders  who  had  been  the   contractors  for  it 

i  Boston  Transcript  of  May  1,  1882. 


&TAA-XLJ 


<TLA^r~, 


r 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  269 

when  it  was  erected.  It  was  rented  to  Mr.  Sawyer 
for  two  years.  He  was  then  a  young  minister  of 
scarcely  two  years'  standing  in  New  York,  and  had 
entered  the  ministry  only  two  years  and  a  half  before. 
He  had  been  married  six  months  and  had  no  cash 
investment.  Four  members  of  his  congregation  be- 
came his  security  for  the  payment  of  the  rent,  and  he 
in  turn  pledged  for  their  security  the  whole  income  of 
the  church,  —  pew-rents,  collections,  and  all.  Under 
the  circumstances  he  was  assuming  quite  a  responsibil- 
ity. The  income  of  the  society  had  been  small,  and  its 
receipts  now  were  not  equal  to  the  rents  alone.  Be- 
sides, Universalism  in  New  York  had  suffered  greathy 
through  the  defection  of  Abner  Kneeland,  and  the  con- 
sequences of  his  lamentable  course  were  still  fresh  in 
the  memory  of  all.  Divisions  and  heart-burnings  still 
existed,  and  the  prospect  was  not  greatly  encouraging 
to  the  new  adventurers.  Yet  it  was  seen  that,  if  success 
was  to  be  realized,  a  new  movement,  as  independent  as 
possible  of  the  old  issues,  must  be  made.  Hence  this 
piece  of  wise  policy  in  securing  a  new  location,  and  be- 
ginning church-life  under  new  auspices.  It  was  a  bold 
step,  but  a  good  Providence  had  directed  it.  Mr.  Saw- 
yer writes  of  it :  — 

"  I  well  remember  the  joy  we  all  experienced  when  we 
entered  the  Orchard  Street  Church.  The  transition  from  the 
little  Grand  Street  chapel  which  we  had  previously  occupied 
was  striking  enough.  The  church  was  large,  veiy  large,  to 
nry  unpractised  e}Tes.  True,  it  had  no  side  galleries,  as  it 
had  afterwards,  and  was  in  every  respect  inferior  to  what  it 
became,  but  I  doubt  if  Solomon,  when  he  first  entered  his 
majestic  temple,  felt  more  deeply  impressed  with  its  greatness 
or  its  awful  sanctit}'  than  I  did  on  the  day  when  we  first  oc- 


270  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

cupied  this  church.  It  seemed  to  me  a  goodly  place,  where, 
as  I  hoped,  Uuiversalism  was  to  be  revived  and  restored  in 
that  great  city." 

There  were  prophecies  of  failure  on  the  part  of  some 
friends,  but  the  persistence  and  faithfulness  of  the  young 
pastor  (encouraged  by  his  companion,  whose  whole 
heart  was  in  her  husband's  work)  and  his  brave  adher- 
ents, by  God's  blessing,  wrought  success. 

In  1832  the  city  of  New  York  was  visited  fearfully 
with  the  cholera.  It  was  suggested  by  some  that  the 
church  should  be  closed  during  the  epidemic,  and  the 
members  of  the  congregation  were  one  day  desired  to 
remain  after  service  to  express  their  opinions  on  the 
subject.  Many  were  about  to  leave  the  city,  and  thought 
the  church  might  be  closed  for  two  or  three  months  and 
the  pastor  dismissed  to  the  country.  At  last  Captain 
Packard,  a  somewhat  eccentric  but  warm-hearted  and 
worthy  man,  rose  and  said  that  he  should  remain  in  the 
city,  and  if  ever  he  needed  the  support  and  consolations 
of  religion,  it  was  during  such  seasons  as  they  had  al- 
ready entered.  If  the  pastor  felt  alarmed  and  desired 
to  leave,  he  of  course  would  not  complain,  yet  he  should 
greatly  desire  to  come  up  to  the  house  of  his  heavenly 
Father  to  listen  to  his  word  and  worship  at  his  altar. 
This  settled  the  question,  and  the  Orchard  Street 
Church  was  open  regularly,  morning  and  afternoon, 
through  the  whole  of  that  gloomy  and  trying  season. 
And  in  this  case,  as  always,  the  path  of  duty  proved  in  the 
end  the  path  of  greatest  advantage.  Many  — perhaps  a 
large  part  —  of  the  churches  in  the  city  were  closed,  and 
the  pastors  gone.  The  minds  of  the  people  wrere  seri- 
ously impressed,  and  the  Gospel  of  infinite  grace  proved 


SKETCHES    OF  MINISTERS.  271 

itself  well  fitted  for  such  an  emergency.  The  Univer- 
salist  church  was  uniformly  well  attended,  and  great 
good  was  accomplished  by  its  ministrations.  The  soci- 
ety continued  to  increase.  Old  friends,  whom  circum- 
stances had  alienated  or  caused  to  stand  aloof  from  the 
movement,  returned  one  after  another  and  forgot  their 
former  difficulties  and  discontent.  The  best  of  feeling 
existed  among  the  members  and  greatly  encouraged  all 
hearts. 

Though  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  gave  up  their 
new  house  on  Orchard  Street,  yet  no  sooner  had  it  come 
into  the  possession  of  Universalists  than  the  members  of 
that  communion  began  to  express  a  most  lively  concern 
for  the  interests  of  religion.     Dr.  Sawyer  writes  :  — 

"  The  '  Christian  Intelligencer,'  their  religious  journal, 
soon  began  to  pay  some  attention  to  Universalism  ;  and  Dr. 
Brownlee,  one  of  the  boldest,  if  not  one  of  their  ablest,  men  and 
ministers,  commenced  a  course  of  lectures  against  the  doc- 
trine. The  lectures  were  repeated  in  the  Dutch  churches  in  the 
city,  and  briefly  reported  in  the  '  Intelligencer.'  An  attempt 
was  made  to  get  them  repeated  in  the  Orchard  Street  Church, 
but  failed.  The  Doctor  was  quite  too  busy  to  permit  it.  His 
lectures  were  regarded  by  his  friends  as  exceedingly  able  and 
altogether  irrefutable.  lie  possessed  a  great  deal  of  assur- 
ance, and  made  assertions  with  vast  boldness  and  emphasis. 
As  a  reasoner  he  was  but  a  third  or  fourth  rate  man.  The 
ad  captandum  was  his  forte,  and  among  those  who  knew 
nothing  of  Universalism,  and  undoubtingly  believed  in  endless 
misery,  his  reasons  were  satisfactory  if  not  convincing." 

The  lectures  were  closely  examined  by  Mr.  Sawyer 
before  large  congregations.  It  was  a  grand  opportunity, 
and  he  improved  it.  This  review  was  afterwards  given 
to  the  public  through  the  press.     The  attack  intended 


272  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

to  check  the  spread  of  Universalism  served  to  increase 
and  strengthen  it.  During  Mr.  Sawyer's  subsequent 
pastorate  of  thirteen  and  a  half  years,  other  controver- 
sies followed.  With  Rev.  Mr.  Slocum,  a  Presbyterian 
clergyman,  he  held  a  discussion  that  occupied  fourteen 
evenings,  and  added  twenty  families  to  the  Universalist 
congregation.  He  answered  Rev.  Mr.  Remington,  a 
Methodist  clergyman,  and  reviewed  Rev.  Dr.  Parker's 
lectures  on  Universalism.  These  lectures  of  Mr.  Parker 
had  been  preached  and  published  in  Rochester  some 
years  before,  and  were,  without  essential  alteration,  re- 
peated in  .several  churches  in  New  York.  Mr.  Sawyer 
happened  to  possess  the  Rochester  copy  of  the  produc- 
tion, and  very  much  to  the  astonishment  of  many  he 
replied  to  the  learned  Doctor's  lecture  on  the  very  even- 
ing after  he  had  delivered  it  in  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood in  the  morning.  Another  debate  was  also  held  by 
Mr.  Sawyer  with  Rev.  Mr.  Hatfield,  the  substance  of 
which  was  published  in  a  small  volume  entitled  "  Uni- 
versalism as  it  is."  It  was  a  rule  with  this  sentinel  on 
the  Universalist  watch-tower  in  that  city  never  to  allow 
any  antagonist  of  "  the  faith,"  whose  position  and  charac- 
ter deserved  attention,  to  pass  unnoticed  or  unanswered. 
The  Orchard  Street  Church  was  emphatically  a  success. 
After  Mr.  Sawyer  left  it  in  1845,  it  enjoyed  the  effective 
pastorates  of  Rev.  Otis.  A.  Skinner,  since  deceased,  and 
Cyrus  H.  Fay  (still  useful  and  honored  among  our  older 
ministers),  and  others.  It  has  probably  done  more  for 
the  diffusion  of  Universalism  than  any  other  single  socie- 
ty in  the  State.  All  the  societies  in  its  immediate  neigh- 
borhood, Bleecker  Street,  Murray  Street,  Fourth  Street, 
Brooklyn,  and  Williamsburg,  were  first  formed  by 
members  of  Orchard  Street,  and  may  be  regarded  as 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  273 

offshoots  from  that  parent  stock.  It  labored  not  merely 
for  itself,  its  own  ease  or  aggrandizement,  but  for  the 
good  of  the  cause,  a  veritable  missionary  institution. 

In  the  autumn  of  1845  Mr.  Sawyer  removed  with  his 
family  to  Clinton,  Oneida  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  took  charge 
of  the  Clinton  Liberal  Institute.  He  succeeded  in  con- 
verting it  into  a  Universalist  school,  and  opened  in 
connection  with  it  a  primitive  theological  school  from 
which  he  sent  out  about  twenty-five  students,  more  than 
twenty  of  whom  are  still  in  the  ministry  well  and  suc- 
cessfully employed.  At  the  close  of  1852  he  returned 
to  New  York,  and,  having  preached  for  what  was  for- 
merly called  the  Dry  Dock  .Society  a  year,  he  returned 
to  his  old  parish  and  continued  with  it  until  the  spring 
of  1861,  when,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion, 
and  the  volunteering  of  his  oldest  son  on  his  farm  at 
Clinton,  and  on  account  of  parish  affairs  in  that  dis- 
tracted time,  he  resigned  and  went  to  Clinton,  where 
he  remained,  preaching  for  the  parish  there  until  Janu- 
ary, 1863,  when  he  again  returned  to  New  York,  and 
took  the  editorial  charge  of  the  "  Christian  Ambassa- 
dor." This  paper  was  founded  by  Philo  Price  in  1831, 
under  the  name  of  "  The  Christian  Messenger,"  of  which 
Mr.  Sawyer  was  the  theological  editor  for  several  years. 
It  passed  under  several  names,  and  is  now  published  at 
Boston  as  the  "  Christian  Leader,"  united  with  the  Uni- 
versalist weekly  formerly  issued  in  this  city. 

In  the  autumn  of  1865  he  removed  his  family  from 
Clinton  to  Star  Landing,  N.  J.,  and  took  possession  of  a 
farm  he  had  just  purchased  there.  Here  he  remained, 
managing  the  farm  and  preaching  occasionally,  until 
the  autumn  of  1860,  when  he  came  to  College  Hill, 
Mass.,  and  assumed  the  duties  of  Professor  of  Systematic 

18 


27-1  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Theology  in  the  Divinity  School,  to  whicli  he  had  some 
time  before  been  elected.  He  was  one  of  the  original 
trustees  of  Tufts  College,  having  called  the  educational 
convention  held  in  New  York  in  1847,  which  resulted  in 
the  establishment  of  the  college.  He  was  also  chiefly 
instrumental  in  calling  the  first  meeting  in  New  York 
city  to  consider  the  necessity  of  establishing  a  theologi- 
cal school,  which  resulted  in  the  founding  of  the  Canton 
Theological  School  and  the  St.  Lawrence  University, 
of  which  he  was  also  one  of  the  original  trustees,  and 
for  several  years  President  of  the  Board.  He  received 
the  honorary  degree  of  S.  T.  D.  at  Cambridge,  in  1850. 
Among  the  published  works  of  Dr.  Sawyer  are  his 
Letters  to  Dr.  W.  C.  Brownlee  and  to  Rev.  Stephen 
Remington  in  review  of  their  Lectures  against  Univer- 
salism  ;  the  Occasional  Sermon  delivered  before  the 
United  States  Convention  of  Universalists  in  New  York, 
September,  1841  ;  "  Endless  Punishment,  its  Origin  and 
Grounds  Examined,  with  other  discourses,"  1845  ;  Review 
of  Rev.  E.  F.  Hatfield's  "  Universalism  as  it  is,"  1841  ; 
Two  Discussions  with  Rev.  Isaac  Wescott  on  Universal 
Salvation  ;  "  Who  is  Our  God  ?  The  Son  or  the 
Father?"  a  Review  of  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  1859; 
a  preface  to  the  Philadelphia  edition  of  Petitpierre  on 
"Divine  Goodness,"  in  1843  ;  "  Endless  Punishment  in 
the  Very  Words  of  Its  Advocates,"  Boston,  1879  ;  an 
article  in  the  North  American  Review,  one  of  a  series  on 
the  subject  of  Endless  Punishment,  in  the  March  and 
April  numbers  of  1878.  Besides  the  Occasional  Sermon 
already  noted,  he  has  preached  two  others  before  the 
United  States  Convention,  one  in  Middletown,  Conn., 
and  the  other  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  in  1876.  From  the 
beginning  Dr.  Sawyer  has  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the 


m 


m^ 


Jruc^/d.     ryA^x^/£Si^ 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  275 

literature  of  Universalism.  He  has  written  much  for 
the  "  Quarterly  "  and  for  the  other  church  periodicals. 
He  was  instrumental  in  originating  the  Universalist  His- 
torical Society,  which  has  now  a  very  valuable  library  at 
Tufts  College. 

Dr.  Sawyer  has  been  an  incessant  and  faithful  toiler  ; 
and  in  all  his  work,  whether  as  preacher  or  teacher,  has 
sought  the  promotion  of  the  Gospel  of  Universal  Grace. 
His  adherence  to  the  work  and  advancement  of  the 
Universalist  Church  has  been  steady  and  unfaltering, 
and  his  defence  of  the  Christian  Revelation  as  an  au- 
thoritative dispensation  from  Heaven  through  Jesus 
Christ,  clear  and  unequivocal,  in  admirable  contrast  with 
the  flippant  rationalism  and  scepticism  which  have  in 
too  many  instances  found  expression  under  the  names 
of  "  Liberal  Christianity  "  and  "  Free  Religion." 

There  is  a  church  edifice  in  New  York  city  in  127th 
Street,  near  Lexington  Avenue,  which  represents  the 
Second  Universalist  Society  of  New  York,  organized  in 
1828.  It  was  completed  two  years  ago,  and  is  called 
the  "  Sawyer  Memorial  Church." 

Among  the  older  living  ministers  who  have  made 
themselves  specially  and  constantly  useful  in  the  Uni- 
versalist Church  during  the  last  half-century,  no  one  is 
deserving  of  more  grateful  notice  than  Rev.  Thomas 
Baldwin  Thayer,  D.  D.  He  was  born  in  Boston, 
Sept.  10,  1812.  Having  received  the  usual  rudimental 
training  and  experience  of  boyhood,  he  successively 
passed  through  the  grammar  schools  of  his  native  city, 
and  at  an  early  period  in  youth  he  entered  the  Latin 
school  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  B.  A.  Gould.  The 
young  student  had  testimonials  that  his  diligence  was 


276  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

observed  with  marked  approval.  He  entered  college  at 
Cambridge,  where  by  permission  he  was  to  pursue  his 
studies  for  the  first  year,  without  college  rooms,  under 
the  tutorship  of  Mr.  F.  P.  Leverett,  the  distinguished 
author  of  the  Latin  lexicon.  For  certain  reasons  he 
was  induced  at  the  end  of  his  first  year  to  abandon  a 
collegiate  course,  and  from  the  duties  of  a  college 
student  he  very  soon  entered  the  Hawes  Grammar- 
school  in  the  capacity  of  an  assistant.  Soon  after  this, 
Mr.  Leverett,  resigning  his  position  as  principal  of  the 
Latin  School  in  Boston,  opened  a  private  institution, 
mainly  with  a  view  to  prepare  students  for  college,  and 
invited  his  former  pupil  to  become  his  assistant,  which 
invitation  Mr.  Thayer  accepted.  It  was  while  connected 
with  this  school  that  his  purpose  to  devote  himself  to 
the  work  of  the  ministry  was  formed. 

His  first  engagement  to  preach  was  with  the  Univer- 
salis Society  in  South  Dedham  (now  Norwood),  where 
he  supplied  the  pulpit  for  several  months.  This  made 
his  work  quite  arduous.  His  duties  in  his  school  and 
those  in  the  growing  parish  kept  him  constantly  and 
closely  employed.  In  June,  1832,  Mr.  Thayer  received 
Letters  of  Fellowship  from  the  Boston  Association,  and 
was  ordained  by  the  same  body  in  the  following  Decem- 
ber. In  April,  1833,  he  accepted  an  invitation  from  the 
First  Universalist  Society  in  Lowell,  and  entered  upon 
a  pastorate  there,  which  he  kept  for  twelve  years. 
While  in  this  city,  as  another  has  written  :  — 

"  Encouraged  by  the  large  congregations  which  regularly 
attended  on  his  preaching,  he  was  moved  to  consider  whether 
it  were  not  possible  to  meet  the  inquiring  spirit  of  the  people 
by  a  course  of  sermons  under  circumstances  which  would  give 
opportunity  to  present  the  leading  doctrines  of  Universalism 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  277 

to  a  larger  number  of  persons  than  could  be  accommodated 
in  a  church.  This  thought  was  communicated  to  some  of  the 
leading  members  of  the  society,  and  after  due  consultation, 
followed  by  prompt  action,  it  led  to  the  experiment  of  a  series 
of  sermons  in  the  capacious  City  Hall.  The  immense  room 
was  filled  with  attentive  hearers  throughout  the  entire  course. 
He  then  proposed  that,  in  conjunction  with  his  own  labors  in 
the  church,  regular  preaching  should  be  held  four  or  five 
Sundays  in  the  City  Hall,  and  that  a  subscription  of  fifty 
cents  from  each  person  friendly  to  the  project  should  defray 
the  expenses  incident  thereto.  Rev.  J.  G.  Adams  was  en- 
gaged to  supply  the  specified  time.  The  result  was  that  to 
this  day  the  meetings  have  never  been  discontinued.  The 
germ  was  originated,  which,  under  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Zenas 
Thompson,  developed  into  the  Second  Society,  now  worship- 
ping in  the  beautiful  edifice  on  Lowell  Street."  1 

From  Lowell  Mr.  Thayer  removed  to  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
in  1845.  His  six  years  in  this  city  were  years  of  great 
usefulness  to  his  church  and  beyond  its  limits.  He 
connected  himself  with  the  Odd  Fellows,  and  became 
editor  of  the  "  Golden  Rule,"  a  paper  published  in  the 
interest  of  the  fraternity.  In  1847  he  gave  a  series  of 
lectures  on  "  Social  Progress,"  which  were  reported  in 
part  for  the  N.  Y.  "  Tribune,"  as  also  a  series  of  lectures 
on  the  "  Dangers  of  City  Life,"  especially  in  reference 
to  young  men.  He  was  active  in  advocating  social  re- 
form, the  efforts  for  juvenile  vagrants,  and  for  the  moral 
elevation  of  the  poor. 

Dr.  Thayer  has  remarkable  qualifications  for  a  Chris- 
tian minister,  teacher,  pastor,  and  writer.  His  sermons 
are  always  alive  with  thought,  easily  and  earnestly  de- 
livered, doctrinally  strong  and  clear,  practically  pointed, 

1  Rev.  G.  H.  Emerson,  D.  D.,  Ed.  in  "  Christian  Leader." 


278       -  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

and  plain ;  a  mixture  often  of  forcible  preaching  (not 
reading-)  from  manuscript,  and  freest  extemporaneous 
outpouring,  sweet  and  fresh  with  the  heavenly  fragrance 
of  the  Gospel.  In  his  Scripture  readings  at  the  opening 
of  the  church  service,  he  is  usually  very  acceptable  to 
the  hearers,  interspersing  the  reading  with  explanatory 
words  and  brief  practical  inferences. 

Dr.  Thayer  is  well  known  as  an  author.  In  the  early 
clays  of  his  ministry  he  published  a  volume  entitled 
"  Christianity  against  Infidelity,"  an  able  and  a  timely 
offering  to  the  public,  —  a  strong  and  candid  appeal  to 
the  reader  in  behalf  of  the  Christian  Gospel  from  the 
Universalist  standpoint.  The  work  was  some  years 
afterwards  enlarged,  embracing  the  objections  to  histori- 
cal Christianity  by  Strauss  and  Renan,  and  replies  to 
them.  A  republication  of  this  work  would  be  timely 
now,  in  this  season  of  theological  thought,  of  religious 
drifting  and  doubt,  of  indifference  and  scepticism.  His 
"  Theology  of  Universal  ism  "  is  a  work  of  great  merit, 
as  also  his  admirable  volume  "  Over  the  River."  They 
deserve  a  place  in  the  library  of  every  minister,  and 
should  find  a  home  in  every  Universalist  family. 

His  most  valuable  work,  however,  has  been  done  as 
editor  of  the  "  Universalist  Quarterly."  His  qualifica- 
tions for  this  service  are  striking.  In  addition  to  the 
able  discussions  in  the  publications  from  the  pens  of 
other  authors,  the  department  containing  the  editor's 
outlook  into  the  religious  world,  his  notes  and  comments 
on  the  times,  and  his  discriminating  notices  of  new  pub- 
lications, is  of  itself  a  rich  and  welcome  entertainment 
to  all  who  are  familiar  with  the  pages  of  the  Quarterly, 
a  review  reflecting  great  honor  upon  the  Universalist 
Church,  and  which  the  Universalist  fraternity  cannot 
afford  to  lose  or  neglect. 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  279 

After  closing  his  ministry  in  Brooklyn,  Dr.  Thayer 
had  a  second  pastorate  in  Lowell  with  his  old  society, 
during  which  a  severe  calamity  came  to  him.  He  was 
thrown  from  a  carriage  by  a  frightened  horse,  and  so 
badly  injured  that  for  some  time  his  survival  seemed 
very  doubtful.  His  many  friends  were  deeply  anxious, 
and  the  strain  upon  his  physical  system  was  intense. 
But  through  all  this  terrible  sorrow  his  faith  and  hope 
sustained  and  inspired  him,  and  the  lessons  of  his  sick- 
ness and  Christian  endurance  were  to  many  souls  more 
impressive  than  any  the}^  had  ever  received  from  his 
pulpit  ministrations.  It  was  a  cheering  event  to  hosts 
of  friends  that  he  was  gradually  restored  to  the  calling 
he  so  much  loved,  though  with  the  effects  of  the  acci- 
dent upon  him  which  must  go  with  him  through  life. 
He  afterwards  removed  to  "Boston,  and  was  for  a  few 
years  the  much-esteemed  pastor  of  the  Shawmut  Uni- 
versalist  Church  in  this  city.  Since  his  resignation 
there  he  has  frequently  supplied  pulpits  in  the  vicinity 
of  Boston,  always  to  great  acceptance.  At  the  present 
time  he  is  engaged  principally  in  his  work  with  the 
pen. 

Notwithstanding  the  unquestionable  qualifications  of 
Dr.  Thayer  as  a  public  speaker,  he  is  usually  inclined 
to  distrust  himself,  but  no  one  of  our  ministers,  when 
called  upon  to  present  any  question  of  importance  at 
the  public  assemblings  of  the  church,  is  more  acceptable 
than  he.  His  lively  musical  notes  of  Christian  truth 
and  earnestness  are  sure  to  awaken  a  response  in  the 
souls  of  the  listeners. 

Rev.  William  Stevens  Balch,  of  Elgin,  111.,  is  one 
of  the  oldest  of  the  Universalist  ministers  now  in  active 


280  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

service.  He  was  born  in  Andover,  Vt.,  April  13,  1806. 
He  received  fellowship  as  a  minister,  of  the  General 
Convention  at  Saratoga,  N.  Y.,  in  September,  1827,  and 
ordination  in  Claremont,  N.  H.,  in  June,  1828.  His 
first  location  was  in  Windham  Count}*,  Vt.,  boarding  in 
Dunmierston,  preaching  in  neighboring  towns  one  Sun- 
day in  each  month,  travelling  on  foot  to  the  several 
stations,  and  receiving  the  payment  of  five  dollars  per 
Sunday.  He  remained  there  preaching  in  nearly  every 
town  in  that  region,  until  invited  to  his  first  settlement 
in  Albany,  N.  Y.,  Januaiy,  1881.  Being  after  a  time 
worn  down  with  over-exertion,  he  felt  obliged  to  leave, 
and  was  settled  next  in  Watertown,  Mass.,  to  which 
place  he  had  been  invited  before  going  to  Albany.  His 
health  soon  improved,  and  he  found  himself  in  the  re- 
ceipt of  a  salary  of  8150.  But  again  his  health  failed, 
and  he  was  induced  to  remove  to  Claremont,  N.  H.,  in 
April,  1832.  He  preached  there  half  the  time,  and 
supplied  in  Hartlaiid  and  Springfield,  Vt.,  and  Newport, 
N.  H.,  until  a  new  church  in  Claremont  was  finished. 
Here  he  was  very  actively  employed,  not  only  as  a  pas- 
tor, but  in  doing  missionary  work  in  every  direction. 

In  September,  1835,  at  the  General  Convention  held 
in  Hartford,  Conn.,  he  was  recommended  by  Rev.  Dol- 
phus  Skinner  to  a  committee  of  the  society  in  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.,  which  was  there  to  find  a  preacher  "  not 
committed  to  Restorationism  or  Ultra-Universalism,"  in 
reference  to  which  isms  the  parish  was  quite  divided. 
Mr.  Balch  consented  to  supply  three  Sundays,  not  as  a 
candidate,  for  he  desired  to  live  in  the  country.  He 
was,  however,  invited  and  urged  to  settle  there,  which 
he  did,  after  some  hesitancy,  in  March,  1836.  His  min- 
istry proved  a  successful  one.     In  two  years  the  large 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  281 

church  was  crowded,  and  a  second  society  was  formed 
in  the  city.  In  1842  he  was  invited  to  go  as  a  candi- 
date to  the  church  in  Bleecker  St.,  N.  Y.  He  declined, 
but  soon  after  received  a  call  to  become  the  pastor  there. 
Having  become  interested  in  what  was  known  as  the 
"  Dorr  "  movement,  and  freely  expressing  his  wish  to 
have  a  "  Republican  form  of  government  "  by  a  Consti- 
tution, and  seeing  a  political  storm  brewing,  he  accepted 
the  call  from  New  York,  and  settled  there  in  November, 
1842. 

In  1848  he  visited  Europe,  intending  to  go  to  Pales- 
tine. The  troubles  of  that  year  made  it  difficult  to  go 
further  than  Rome.  In  1852  he  was  asked  by  two  men, 
not  of  his  church,  with  whom  a  third  joined,  to  go 
abroad  if  he  wished,  with  full  permission  and  means  to 
journey  as  far  and  stay  as  long  as  he  pleased.  He  was 
wise  enough  to  accept  the  generous  offer,  and  travelled 
extensively  in  Europe,  extending  his  journey  to  Pales- 
tine, across  the  Desert,  and  through  Egypt  to  Nubia. 

After  seventeen  years'  hard  work  in  preaching,  lec- 
turing, and  writing  on  religious  and  moral  reform  topics, 
he  became  quite  worn  down,  and  resolved  to  take  life  a 
little  more  leisurely  for  his  body's  sake,  an  exceedingly 
difficult  course  for  him.  He  went  to  Ludlow,  Vt.,  in 
1859,  preaching  there  half  the  time,  and  supplying  other 
places,  lecturing,  and  really  working  as  hard  as  when 
in  New  York  city.  He  then  had  another  removal,  to 
Galesburg,  111.,  where  he  preached  five  years,  and  again 
resolved  to  retire,  and  removed  to  Hinsdale  in  1870. 
But  he  still  preached.  In  1871  he  was  urged  to  come 
to  Elgin,  111.,  where  the  minister's  work  was  still  before 
him.  In  1877  he  entered  the  plea  of  old  age  and  re- 
signed, purposing  a  visit  to  California.      Meantime  he 


282  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS 

was  invited  to  preach  a  Sunday  in  Dubuque,  Iowa.  The 
result  was  another  pastorate.  He  refused  to  "  settle," 
but  consented  to  supply  a  few  Sundays  until  the  society 
could  obtain  a  pastor.  He  continued  three  years  and 
three  months,  not  removing  his  family,  but  staying  there. 
His  ministry  gave  great  encouragement  to  the  church  in 
Dubuque. 

In  1880  Mr.  Balch  visited  California  ;  in  1882  the 
City  of  Mexico  ;  and  last  winter  Florida.  At  the  pres- 
ent time  his  health  is  quite  firm.  As  he  writes  of  him- 
self, "  I  am  comfortably  situated,  use  no  glasses  except 
in  dim  light ;  and  am  fairly  content  in  contemplating 
the  past,  still  busy  with  the  present,  and  hopeful  of  a 
happy  and  immortal  future." 

When  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  Mr.  Balch  gave  a  course 
of  "  Lectures  on  Language,"  which  were  published  in 
1838.  He  also  wrote  a  "  Grammar  of  the  English  Lan- 
guage, explained  according  to  the  Principles  of  Truth 
and  Common  Sense,"  published  by  B.  B.  Mussey,  Bos- 
ton, and  passing  through  four  editions.  In  1849  his 
volume  "  Ireland  as  I  saw  it  "  was  issued,  and  in  1881 
"  A  Peculiar  People,"  the  first  edition  of  which  sold  in 
eight  weeks.  He  is  the  author  of  a  "  Sunday-School 
Manual,"  published  in  1887. 

The  business  capacity  of  Mr.  Balch  wras  evinced  in 
his  raising  funds  for  the  Theological  School  at  Canton, 
N.  Y.,  taking  charge  of  the  location,  plan,  and  rearing 
of  the  buildings,  and  selection  of  a  principal.  He  after- 
wards completed  the  raising  of  a  large  fund  for  the 
institution,  obtaining  also  $10,000  for  the  library,  and 
securing  the  valuable  libraries  of  Dr.  Credner,  and  Rev. 
S.  C.  Loveland.  He  devoted  much  time  to  the  business 
of  making  the  "  Christian  Ambassador  "  of  New  York  a 


^C^— 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  283 

denominational  paper,  and  placing  it  on  a  sound  finan- 
cial basis.  His  work  in  these  particulars  was  well  and 
faithfully  done.  ♦ 

Mr.  Balch  has  always  been  a  very  ready  and  popular 
speaker  with  the  masses.  The  graces  of  oratory  he  has 
not  sought,  but  his  talking  power  seems  inexhaustible. 
Although  in  favor  of  fraternal  organization  for  the  good 
of  the  cause,  yet  his  ideas  in  reference  to  creeds  and  to 
centralized  authority  are  not  accordant  with  those  of 
many  others  of  his  brethren,  who  hold  in  high  estimation 
the  work  he  has  done  in  the  spirit  and  in  the  truth  of 
the  Gospel. 

Among  the  long  and  successful  pastorates  in  the 
great  city  of  the  West, —  Chicago, —  we  may  note  that  of 
Rev.  William  Henry  Ryder.  He  is  a  New  England 
man,  having  been  born  in  Provincetown,  Mass.  (the  son 
of  Capt.  Godfrey  Ryder),  July  18,  1822.  During  the 
early  life  of  the  son  it  was  supposed  that  he  would  be- 
come one  of  the  fraternity  of  seamen,  as  his  worthy 
father  had  been.  But  this  seems  not  to  have  been  the 
Providential  intent.  The  parent  did  his  part  in  sending 
the  lad  to  sea  in  a  vessel  bearing  his  own  name,  "  Wil- 
liam Henry,"  but  the  experience  of  a  shipwreck  cured 
the  young  sailor  of  what  nautical  tastes  he  might  have 
possessed,  and  turned  his  attention  in  another  direction. 
He  became  anxious  for  the  life  of  a  student,  and  in  his 
eighteenth  year  entered  Pembroke,  N.  H.,  Academy. 
He  was  a  diligent  and  progressive  scholar,  and  while  at 
this  institution  decided  as  to  the  profession  upon  which 
he  afterwards  entered.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he 
preached  his  first  sermon  in  Manchester,  N.  H.,  and 
during  the  year  following  he  preached  frequently  in 
Concord,  in  the  same  State. 


284  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

Leaving  the  school  in  Pembroke,  he  entered  Clinton 
Liberal  Institute  (Clinton,  N.  Y.),  then  in  care  of  a 
learned  and  efficient  teacher,  Dr.  Clowes.  He  preached 
frequently  during  his  stay  there.  In  the  autumn  of 
1843,  soon  after  he  was  twenty-one,  he  was  invited  to 
take  charge  of  the  Unjversalist  Society  in  Concord, 
N.  H.,  to  which  place  he  removed,  and  in  November  of 
that  year  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Caroline 
Frances  Adams,  who  has  proved  a  worthy  and  faithful 
helper  to  him  in  all  the  experiences  connected  with  his 
profession.  His  ordination  took  place  in  December, 
1848.  His  ministry  here  was  successful.  The  society 
had  been  formed  under  the  ministry  of  Rev.  J.  G. 
Adams  while  doing  missionary  work  in  New  Hampshire, 
in  1834.  Faithful  men  and  women  had  kept  it  alive 
through  changes  and  vicissitudes  until  it  realized  a  new 
prosperity  under  Mr.  Ryder,  which  has  continued  to 
the  present  time. 

After  two  and  a  half  years  of  successful  labor  here, 
he  accepted  a  call  to  the  neighboring  city  of  Nashua,  a 
larger  and  more  promising  field,  which  he  occupied  to 
good  effect.  While  giving  great  satisfaction  to  his 
people,  he  became  deeply  impressed  with  the  conviction 
that  his  ability  to  serve  the  church  in  the  capacity  of  a 
Christian  teacher  according  to  his  own  ideal  would  be 
made  greater  by  a  more  thorough  course  of  study  than 
he  had  yet  been  able  to  take,  or  than  he  could  take  with 
the  cares  of  a  pastor  upon  him.  He  therefore  deter- 
mined to  spend  a  year  and  a  half  abroad  in  study  and 
observation.  Resigning  his  charge  in  Nashua,  he  sailed 
from  New  York  to  England.  Landing  at  Kinsale,  Ire- 
land, and  exploring  the  lake  region  of  Killarney,  he 
passed  on  to  Dublin,  and  crossed  the  channel  into  Eng- 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  285 

land,  where  he  tarried  awhile,  visiting  places  of  historic 
interest,  and  making  the  acquaintance  of  several  persons 
who  were  specially  interested  in  his  own  faith  and  pro- 
fession. While  in  London  and  vicinity,  he  was  cordially 
greeted  by  the  Unitarian  ministers  there,  and  preached 
in  two  of  their  churches.  He  soon  crossed  to  the  Con- 
tinent and  came  to  Berlin,  where  he  applied  himself 
diligently  in  a  course  of  study  under  German  instructors 
for  seven  months.  He  next  extended  his  travels  to 
Palestine,  visiting  Jerusalem  and  many  other  noted 
places  there.  He  also  visited  Athens,  Constantinople, 
Cairo,  the  Pyramids,  Malta,  Naples,  Rome,  Florence, 
Geneva,  and  Paris,  from  which  last-named  place  he 
went  again  to  Berlin.  He  was  absent  a  year  and  a 
half. 

Soon  after  his  return  to  his  native  land  he  was  called 
to  the  pastorate  in  Roxbury,  Mass.  Here  he  had  a  suc- 
cessful ministry  of  ten  }Tears,  not  only  fully  sustaining 
the  high  reputation  which  the  church  had  long  enjoyed, 
but  giving  it  new  inspiration  and  vigor  by  the  high  and 
truly  evangelical  tone  of  his  ministry.  In  1860  he  was 
called  to  that  great  city  of  the  West,  Chicago,  then 
twenty-seven  years  old,  and  containing  150,000  people. 
He  took  charge  of  St.  Paul's  Church  at  a  time  when  just 
such  a  helper  and  director  as  he  proved  to  be  was 
needed.  His  discriminating  mind  and  firm  will  and 
patience  and  steadiness  of  action,  worked  effectively  in 
building  up  the  cause  of  Universalism  in  his  own  church, 
and  giving  it  an  honorable  reputation  in  that  great  and 
growing  city.  And  out  of  the  city  and  through  the 
State  and  the  whole  West  the  influence  of  his  teaching 
and  work  as  a  representative  of  the  Universalist  Church 
has  been  justly  acknowledged.     He  has  done  work  for 


286  FIFTY  NOTABLE  YEARS. 

the  Christian  cause  that  deserves  to  be  kept  in  perpet- 
ual remembrance.  In  the  pulpit,  as  a  pastor,  as  an 
earnest  worker  in  all  matters  affecting  education,  reform, 
and  the  public  weal,  he  has  been  found  constant  and 
faithful. 

In  1860  Harvard  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of 
A.  M.,  and  in  1863  Lombard  University  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity.  In  1808  he  made  a  second  visit  to 
Europe,  and  brought  home  many  treasures  of  art  which 
were  subsequently  destroyed  b}-  fire  in  the  two  great 
conflagrations  with  which  Chicago  was  visited.  The 
fire  that  destroyed  St.  Paul's  and  his  own  beautiful  res- 
idence on  an  adjoining  lot  imposed  great  responsibilities 
upon  him,  which  he  assumed  and  discharged  with  ad- 
mirable skill.  He  visited  New  England  and  returned 
with  $40,000  with  which  to  repair  the  shattered  fortunes 
of  St.  Paul's  Church  ;  and  such  has  been  his  adminis- 
trative skill,  that,  notwithstanding  the  heavy  financial 
reverses  to  which  the  parish  was  subsequently  subjected, 
their  grand  church,  worth  $200,000,  is  now  without  an 
incumbrance.  Dr.  Rj'der  himself  suffered  great  loss  by 
the  fires,  but  it  is  pleasant  to  record  what  one  who  knows 
sa}7s  of  him,  that  he  is  still  "  in  possession  of  '  enough 
and  to  spare.'  " 

Dr.  Ryder's  life  has  been  crowded  with  duties.  As  a 
preacher  and  pastor  and  man  of  business  he  has  made  his 
mark  on  public  opinion  and  human  life  during  the  forty 
years  just  closing.  He  has  thoroughly  identified  himself 
with  the  faith  and  work  of  the  Universalist  Church. 
As  an  expositor  of  its  faith  he  has  always  been  clear 
and  positive,  and  as  an  advocate  of  its  work  unmistak- 
ably emphatic.  Organized  church  work,  State  work, 
national  work,  mission  work  —  home  and  foreign,  he  has 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  287 

continually  urged.  The  zealous  and  faithful  women- 
workers  of  the  church  have  always  found  in  him  a  warm, 
hearty,  and  outspoken  advocate  on  all  occasions  when 
and  where  his  word  of  good  cheer  has  been  asked.  As 
a  preacher,  another  has  thus  truthfully  spoken  of  him:  — 

"  He  has  rare  power.  A  model  pulpit  voice,  deep,  sono- 
rous ;  a  manner  of  wonderful  impressiveness  ;  a  personality 
behind  his  words  that  makes  every  word  tell ;  and  long  years 
of  sagacious  work  without  mistakes  re-enforcing  what  he  says, 
so  that  it  is  "safe  to  say  that  no  man's  word  in  any  Chicago 
pulpit,  on  any  question  before  the  people,  goes  as  far  as  his 
in  impressing  the  public  mind."  x 

Dr.  Ryder  has  what  another  has  termed  "  an  impres- 
sive presence,"  not  in  bodily  size,  but  in  a  pleasant 
dignity  which  is  attractive  rather  than  imposing.  An 
indication  of  cool  self-confidence  is  in  every  word  and 
action.  He  is  thoroughly  in  earnest  as  a  public  speaker, 
and  as  thoroughly  sincere  and  fearless  in  maintaining 
what  he  believes  to  be  the  right  of  the  subject  under 
consideration.  A  capital  instance  of  this  quality  in  him 
was  given  in  the  discussion  of  a  topic  that  came  up  at  the 
United  States  Convention  during  its  session  in  Lynnjn 
1875.  He  had  been  invited  to  speak  of  "  The  Needs 
and  Methods  of  Spiritual  Awakening,"  and  used  great 
plainness  and  force  of  speech  in  reference  to  what  he 
deemed  some  of  the  spiritual  failures  of  professed  Uni- 
versalists  which  needed  amendment.  His  matter  was 
well  considered,  and  his  words  were  stirring  and  strong. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  pass  a  vote  of  censure.  He 
had  discharged  a  duty  laid  upon  him,  and  deserved  the 
thanks  of  his  hearers,  even  though  they  had  not  as- 

1  Kev.  J.  W.  Hanson,  D.  D. 


288  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

sented  to  a  word  he  uttered,  if  they  were  convinced 
—  as  doubtless  all  were  —  that  he  honestly  believed 
what  he  said  and  discharged  a  conscientious  duty.  His 
defence  and  vindication  of  himself  were  admirable.  The 
attempt  to  censure  so  significantly  failed  that  the  author 
of  the  resolution  very  readily  withdrew  it.  A  chroni- 
cler of  the  occasion  wrote  that  it  was  worth  a  long  jour- 
ney to  listen  to  that  "  outpouring." 

During  the  war  Dr.  Ryder  was  a  strong  helper  of 
the  Union  cause,  active,  eloquent,  and  untiring  in  his 
support  of  the  government  in  manifold  ways. 

In  addition  to  his  other  agreeable  personal  character- 
istics, Dr.  Ityder  is  well  known  to  those  most  intimate 
with  him  as  a  genial,  courteous,  and  warm-hearted  friend 
and  companion.  All  his  pastorates  bear  testimony  to 
the  love  which  the  children  and  youth  bore  him,  because 
of  the  interest  in  their  welfare  which  he  so  constantly 
manifested. 

In  April,  1882,  Dr.  Ryder  resigned  his  position  as 
pastor  in  Chicago,  and  has  since,  with  his  companion, 
made  a  voyage  to  Europe.  It  is  not  his  intention  to 
take  upon  him  the  duties  of  another  pastorate,  but  he 
will  doubtless  be  always  in  readiness  to  aid  as  he  may 
the  interests  of  the  church  to  whose  prosperity  his  life 
thus  far  has  been  so  constantly  devoted. 

The  Birthplace  of  Hosea   Ballou. 

In  concluding  the  accounts  of  ministers  here  given,  it 
seems  appropriate  to  add  a  brief  reference  to  an  event 
of  recent  occurrence,  to  which  the  attention  of  the  Uni- 
versalist  public  had  been  specially  called.  We  refer  to 
the  meetings  held  under  the  direction  of  the  "  Cheshire 


SKETCHES   OF  MINISTERS.  289 

Association,"  on  Friday,  Saturday,  and  Sunday,  the 
18th,  19th,  and  20th  of  August,  1882,  in  Richmond, 
N.  H.,  the  birthplace  of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou,  and  in 
honor  of  this  distinguished  and  venerated  man.  During1 
these  days,  discourses  were  preached  by  Rev.  Quincy 
Whitney,  Rev.  S.  S.  Fletcher,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  H.  McColles- 
ter,  Rev.  Dr.  A.  A.  Miner,  and  Rev.  Dr.  G.  H.  Emer- 
son. Multitudes  were  in  attendance,  and  the  occasion 
was  deeply  impressive,  and  is  significantly  historical. 
Appended  to  a  special  account  of  the  great  gathering, 
Dr.  Emerson,  editor  of  the  "  Christian  Leader,"  presents 
the  following  description  of  the  birthplace  of  Mr.  Ballou. 
We  are  glad  to  give  it  a  place  in  this  volume  :  — 

"  Stratford-upon-Avon  has  its  one  interest  for  the  great 
world  in  the  happy  fortune  of  giving  to  every  age  the  Bard 
who,  in  the  faculty  for  putting  an  almost  inspired  wisdom 
into  verse  that  is  not  simply  matchless,  but  at  a  vast  altitude 
above  that  of  every  other  poet  who  has  spoken  the  Saxon 
tongue,  —  William  Shakespeare.  The  little  town  of  Ayr  would 
be  nothing  but  a  Scottish  post- village  but  for  the  circumstance 
that  Robert  Burns  first  breathed  within  its  borders.  But  first 
Stratford  and  then  A3T,  for  the  English-speaking  world,  rise 
to  an  importance  simply  unique,  above  every  hamlet  upon 
the  British  Isles,  London  and  Edinburgh  hardly  excepted. 

"Those  who  with  us  full}*  believe  that  the  future  is  to 
honor  Hosea  Ballou  with  a  niche  in  the  temple  of  fame,  as 
the  peer  of  the  elder  Edwards,  and  as  hardly  the  second  of 
Franklin,  who  find  in  the  '  Treatise  on  the  Atonement '  the 
quarry  where  Bushnell  has  polished  a  few  boulders,  will  fur- 
ther agree  with  us  that  the  gazetteer  of  the  coming^century 
will  put  into  conspicuous  type,  and  honor  with  some  detail  of 
description,  the  !New  Hampshire  farming  town  where  Hosea 
Ballou  was  born.  The  compiler  of  Lippincott's  did  not  know 
its  claim  to  distinction,  when  he  summarily  disposed  of  Rich- 

19 


290  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

mond,  N.  H.,  as  'a  post-township  in  Cheshire  Co.,  53  miles 
S.  W.  of  Concord.' 

"  In  a  recent  attendance  upon  the  grove  meeting,  not  the 
least  among  the  inducements  to  make  the  journey  was  the 
opportunity  to  see  the  homestead  where  Hosea  Ballon  lirst 
took  the  hreath  of  life,  and  to  explore  some  of  the  vales  and 
hills  his  bo}'  feet  must  have  trod  more  than  a  century  ago. 
....  As  we  enter  this  little  village,  a  church  at  our  right, 
half  a  century  old,  is  the  Universalist  church,  —  the  members 
of  which  have  nearly  all  left,  to  be  good  parishioners  at  Win- 
chester, Keene,  and  other  more  thriving  and  distant  neigh- 
borhoods. 

"  A  little  farther  on,  at  our  left,  is  a  '  meeting-house,'  — 
it  is  true  to  that  classic  cognomen.  It  is  black  with  age. 
It  seems  hardly  strong  enough  to  keep  timber,  board,  and 
shingle  together.  It  cannot  be  less  than  a  century  and  a  half 
old.  The  very  sight  of  it  takes  us  back  to  a  former  and  very 
primitive  age.  The  glass  is  held  to  the  sash  by  bits  of  tin,  — 
the  putty  got  tired  long  ago  and  '  let  go.'  We  cannot  enter, 
but  we  can  look  through  the  windows.  On  the  north  side  is 
the  great,  square  pine  pulpit,  possibly  one  that  never  knew 
the  smell  of  paint.  The  square  pews  have  high  seats  from 
which  only  tolerably  long  limbs  can  touch  the  knotty  floor. 
There  is  no  grace  of  form,  no  cunning  device  of  architect, 
nothing  to  woo  a  trained  fancy.  In  and  of  itself,  it  is  a  hulk 
that  only  cumbers  the  ground. 

"  Why,  then,  did  we  look  often,  long,  and  spell-bound 
upon  this  wretched  old  rookery,  and  see  therein  a  fascination 
not  to  be  noted  in  the  Capitol  at  Albany  or  the  mammoth  and 
cost!}'  post-offices  of  New  York  and  Boston  ?  The  answer  is 
in  the  history.  More  than  a  century  ago,  Rev.  Maturin 
Ballou  preached  regularly  from  that  pine  pulpit.  Among  the 
regular  auditors,  possibly  the  most  thoughtful  of  them  all,  his 
little  legs  dangling  from  the  rough  benches,  sat  his  little  son 
—  Hosea. 


SKETCHES  OF  MINISTERS.  291 

"  On  the  morning  of  Sundaj*,  our  friend  and  host,  Mr.  L. 
Martin,  says  to  his  pastor  of  many  years,  the  Rev.  E.  Davis  : 
'  Take  my  horse  and  carriage,  and  show  these  people  where 
Hosea  Ballou  was  horn.'  '  These  people  '  include  Dr.  Miner, 
Rev.  Mr.  Stone,  of  Canton,  Rev.  Q.  Whitney,  and  the  editor 
of  the  '  Christian  Leader.'  Mr.  Davis  knows  the  way,  but 
in  Mr.  Bowen,  who  owns  the  farm  contiguous  to  the  once 
Ballou  territory,  he  finds  and  calls  a  pilot  and  village  anti- 
quarian. Perhaps  a  mile  east  of  the  Keene  and  Richmond 
road,  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  Universalist  church  on  the 
hill,  right  at  the  foot  of  '  Grassy  Hill,'  we  find  a  strictly 
modern  house,  and  a  very  old  barn,  and  a  much  older  corn- 
house, —  less  now  by  a  good  sample  than  it  was  before  we 
saw  it.  It  is  a  one-story  house,  with  modern  windows,  and 
three  small  chimneys.  Mr.  Bowen  explains  :  '  That  house 
contains  the  frame  within  which  Hosea  Ballou  was  born,  and 
the  form  of  the  interior  is  substantially  the  same.'  He  was 
confident  that  the  three  chimneys  were  the  same  in  material 
as  the  one  big  chimne}-  of  the  old  structure.  Of  the  corn- 
house  near  by,  Mr.  Bowen  says :  '  That  is  just  the  same, 
only  it  is  older  and  is  now  going  to  decay.'  Knoll,  stream, 
valley,  plain,  and  high  hill  to  the  east, — in  the  woods  of 
which  run  the  fence  or  wall  that  bounded  the  Ballou  farm : 
upon  these  time  can  have  wrought  but  little  change.  We 
saw  them  upon  that  Sunday  morning  as  Hosea  Ballou  saw 
them,  —  as  child,  as  boy,  as  youth,  as  man.  From  that  quiet 
spot,  so  rural,  so  out  of  the  way,  so  completely  in  the  back- 
woods, almost  hidden  by  precipice  and  hill,  came  the  acorn, 
the  oak  whereof  is  now  strong  and  vigorous,  —  we  trust  with 
healing  in  its  leaves.  The  little  boj-  entering  that  corn-barn 
to  get  fodder  for  his  father's  horse,  cows,  and  oxen, — is 
that  the  same  whose  stalwart  form  first  rose  before  us  in  the 
School  Street  pulpit  forty  years  ago  ;  whose  eloquent  tongue 
set  the  blood  thrilling  in  our  }-outhful  veins  ;  whose  majestic 
bearing  seemed  to  us  —  what  it  was  —  that  of  an  Apostle  ? 


292  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

"  It  has  been  our  good  fortune  to  look  upon  the  Forum 
where  Cicero  declaimed  in  orations  that  }et  thrill ;  to  trav- 
erse the  Colosseum  where  Trajan  had  a  private  box  ;  to  walk 
the  streets  of  Pompeii  whose  pavements  were  trodden  by 
resident  Greeks  and  strangers  centuries  before  the  advent  of 
Jesus. 

"But  there  is  an  ample  niche  in  our  memory  left.  We 
place  therein,  to  recall  reverently,  gratefully,  and  with  weird 
association,  our  visit,  on  the  morning  of  August  20,  1882,  to 
the  birthplace  of  Hosea  Ballou,  Richmond,  N.  H.,  '  twelve 
miles  from  Keene,  due  south.'  The  town  of  hill,  vale,  and 
forest  is  largely  deserted  b}*  man.  Farms  that  once  waved 
with  corn  are  now  covered  with  forests  of  pine.  The  locomo- 
tive has  never  been  seen  —  hardly  heard  —  within  its  bor- 
ders. But  its  histor3r  is  precious.  For  what  it  was,  for  what 
it  bequeathed,  it  shall  live  in  history  and  in  song." 


EDUCATIONAL  AIDS.  293 


CHAPTER  XX. 

EDUCATIONAL  AIDS. 

r  I  ^HE  Universalists,  like  some  others  of  the  Christian 
-*■  sects  in  America,  were  at  first  destitute  of  the  edu- 
cational forces  which  have  so  signally  aided  and  strength- 
ened the  more  popular  churches  of  the  land.  They  had 
no  colleges,  no  academies,  or  theological  schools  at  their 
command.  Although  some  of  their  ministers  were  very 
respectable  scholars,  giving  good  evidence  of  their  lite- 
rary attainments  in  their  pulpit  instructions,  and  now 
and  then  an  uncommon  genius  would  appear,  making 
his  talents  specially  available  as  a  writer  or  preacher, 
the  larger  number  were  more  notable  mainly  for  their 
plain  good  sense,  their  reasoning  powers,  their  very  in- 
timate acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures,  and  their  apt- 
ness in  the  use  of  them  in  the  defence  and  advocacy  of 
their  faith.  These  last  named  qualifications  gave  the 
Universalist  minister  a  vantage-ground  in  the  elucida- 
tion of  his  faith,  which  often  rendered  it  impossible  for 
a  theological  opponent,  however  well  trained  as  a 
scholar,  to  sustain  himself  in  an  attempted  vindication 
of  his  opinions.  If,  therefore,  Christian  truth  could  be 
thus  clearly  and  impressively  set  forth  by  those  of  but 
limited  educational  resources,  how  much  more  effective 
might  it  prove  if  thoroughly  prepared  and  armed  with 


294  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

a  ripe  and  ready  scholarship  ?  This  consideration,  as 
was  to  have  been  expected,  in  due  time  moved  some  of 
the  wisest  and  best  friends  of  the  Universalist  Church 
to  take  steps  towards  the  accomplishment  ot  this 
object. 

And  not  for  the  ministry  only  was  this  advantage 
sought.  Those  who  were  needed  to  sustain  the  minis- 
try were  equally  involved  in  the  attainment  of  it. 
Every  Christian  sect  has  been  elevated  and  sustained  in 
a  great  measure  by  giving  its  support  to  educational  in- 
stitutions, —  the  college,  the  divinity  school,  the  acad- 
emy. If  an  educated  ministry  is  one  of  the  great  aids 
in  sustaining  Christian  truth  and  the  Christian  Church, 
so  is  an  educated  laity.  Both  would  have  their  religion 
represented  and  upheld  by  the  highest  educational  sup- 
ports and  influences  of  modern  civilization. 

Besides,  Christian  Universalism  is  a  child  of  the  light. 
It  is  "  not  of  the  night  nor  of  darkness."  It  would  send 
out  its  inquiries  everywhere  into  the  universe  in  its  read- 
iness to  "  prove  all  things  and  hold  fast  that  which  is 
good."  It  would  stand  face  to  face  with  all  the  question- 
ings that  come  up  in  science,  history,  philosophy,  fully 
persuaded  that  all  these,  truthfully  consulted,  will  more 
and  more  confirm  its  great  doctrines  of  God,  the  divine 
law  and  its  operations,  the  divine  purposes  and  their 
fulfilment,  the  reign  of  righteousness  and  its  final  tri- 
umph over  all  evil,  as  made  known  through  Christ,  the 
Head,  Guide,  and  Emancipator  of  Man.  Hence  it  could 
not  be  otherwise  than  that  the  enlightened  Universalist 
should  be  the  earnest  advocate  and  friend  of  educational 
institutions. 

A  notable  evidence  of  this  interest  was  seen  in  the 
instituting  of  Tufts  College  in  Medford,  Mass.     It  was 


EDUCATIONAL  AIDS.  295 

a  timely  generosity  that  gave  it  being  on  that  pleasant 
hill  which  "  the  centuries  had  piled  and  planted  to  be 
the  candlestick  on  which  Charles  Tufts  should  set  the 
light  of  this  institution."  l  It  was  incorporated  in  1852, 
and  opened  for  students  in  1855.  Its  prosperity  has 
been  of  steady  growth,  its  funds  have  multiplied  and 
its  endowments  increased  ;  the  last  report  of  the  Presi- 
dent (E.  H.  Capen,  D.  D.)  showing  it  to  be  "  no  longer 
an  experiment,  but  a  power."  The  aggregate  assets  of 
the  college  at  the  present  time,  including  the  buildings 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  are  not 
less  than  $1,000,000.  With  a  Faculty  of  great  practical 
efficiency,  and  with  the  close  personal  intercourse  of 
teachers  and  pupils,  no  institution  of  the  kind  in  America 
affords  better  facilities  for  a  thorough  education.  In 
connection  with  the  college  is  the  Divinity  School,  with 
its  able  and  devoted  instructors.  A  professorship  in  the 
school  was  endowed  by  Charles  Packard,  Esq.,  of  Bos- 
ton. An  elegant  chapel  near  the  main  college  building 
is  soon  to  be  ready  for  use,  at  a  cost  of  $25,000,  the  gift 
of  Mrs.  Mary  T.  Goddarcl,  of  Newton,  Mass. 

Lombard  University,  at  Galesburg,  111.,  is  another  in- 
stitution, founded  by  Benjamin  Lombard,  of  Galesburg. 
The  university  building  is  of  brick,  three  stories  high, 
with  spacious  rooms.  It  has  libraries  of  about  5,000 
volumes  ;  an  extensive  mineralogical  cabinet,  including 
a  rare  collection  of  shells  ;  a  valuable  philosophical  and 
chemical  apparatus,  and  a  permanent  fund  of  about 
$  100,000.  Young  men  and  women  are  admitted  alike 
to  all  classes  and  all  courses  of  study.  Rev.  N.  White, 
Ph.  D.,  is  President,  as  also  of  the  Theological  Depart- 
ment in  connection  with  the  university.      All  depart- 

1  Wilmot  L.  Warren,  Esq. ;  Address  before  Alumni,  June  20,  1882. 


296  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

ments  of  the  university  are  open  to  the  students  of 
theology  without  charge. 

St.  Lawrence  University  is  at  Canton,  St.  Lawrence 
Co.,  N.  Y.      It  has  two  fully  organized  departments. 

1.  The  collegiate,  comprising  the  usual  four  years'  clas- 
sical course,  and  a  four  years'  scientific  course.  Rev.  A. 
G.  Gaines  is  president  and  Craig  Professor  of  Intellect- 
ual and  Moral  Philosophy.  Young  men  and  women  are 
admitted  to  the  institution  on  the  same  conditions.  2. 
The  theological,  of  which  Rev.  I.  M.  At  wood,  D.  D.  (the 
successor  of  the  late  Dr.  Fisher)  is  president.  Competent 
and  faithful  teachers  are  in  both  schools.  The  location 
and  surroundings  of  the  school  are  favorable  to  uninter- 
rupted study.  A  good  number  of  well-educated  and 
useful  ministers  have  gone  out  from  Canton. 

Another  college  worthy  of  special  attention  is  Buch- 
tel,  Akron,  Summit  Co.,  Ohio.  It  was  founded  by  the 
Universalist  State  Convention  of  Ohio,  and  was  named 
in  honor  of  Hon.  John  R.  Bnchtel,  its  most  generous 
and  devoted  benefactor,  and  was  opened  to  students  of 
both  sexes,  Sept.  11,  1872.  The  curriculum  of  study 
embraces  :  1.  A  complete  classical  course  of  four  years  ; 

2.  A  thorough  philosophical  course  of  four  years  ;  3.  A 
full  scientific  course  of  four  }~ears.  There  is  also  a 
preparatory  course  of  three  years  for  each  of  the  above 
courses.  Rev.  O.  Cone  is  president  of  Buchtel,  who 
has  a  company  of  able  teachers  with  him.  There  are 
thirty-two  perpetual  scholarships  of  $1,000  each  ;  and 
four  professorship  endowments  (two  for  women),  two 
of  $25,000,  and  two  of  $20,000  each.  The  outlook  from 
the  institution  was  never  more  promising  than  at  pres- 
ent, and  its  friends  were  never  more  devoted  to  its  in- 
terests.    Its  generous  founder  has  lived  to  see  this  child 


EDUCATIONAL  AIDS.  297 

of  his  many  anxieties  and  strong  affection  one  of  the 
great  joys  of  his  life-time  ;  and  he  richly  deserves  it. 
The  college  was  lately  freed  from  debt.  Its  total  capi- 
tal is  $290,000. 

Clinton  Liberal  Institute  has  been  of  good  service. 
It  was  founded  in  Clinton,  N.  Y.,  in  1831,  and  removed 
to  Fort  Plain,  N.  Y.,  in  1879,  and  came  into  possession 
of  the  buildings  and  grounds  formerly  known  as  the 
Fort  Plain  Seminary  and  Collegiate  Institute.  It  was 
the  first  academic  institution  set  up  by  Universalists, 
and  has  had  a  steady  success  from  the  beginning. 
Charles  V.  Parcell,  A.  M.,  is  president,  and  has  with 
him  a  full  corps  of  competent  teachers.  The  amount  of 
its  property  is  $100,000. 

One  of  the  most  convenient  and  beautiful  educational 
buildings  in  New  England  is  Dean  Academy,  at  Frank- 
lin, Mass.  It  was  incorporated  in  1865,  and  derives  its 
name  from  the  late  Dr.  Oliver  Dean  of  Franklin.  The 
edifice  with  the  outbuildings  is  valued  at  $200,000,  is 
lighted  with  gas  and  heated  by  steam,  and  has  every 
modern  improvement  and  convenience  for  the  comfort 
of  the  pupils.  Its  principal  is  Lester  L.  Burrington, 
A.  M.,  Chase  Professor  of  Latin  and  Greek.  The  insti- 
tution is  well  endowed  and  is  increasing  in  prosperity. 
It  is  an  honor  to  the  Universalist  denomination  as  well 
as  to  its  venerable  founder,  and  deserves  to  be  widely 
patronized  and  vigorously  sustained.  The  edifice  stands 
upon  land  once  owned  by  the  distinguished  Orthodox 
divine,  Dr.  Nathaniel  Emmons,  formerly  the  minister  of 
the  town. 

Goddard  Seminary  is  situated  in  the  beautiful  village 
of  Barre,  Vt.,  six  miles  from  Montpelier.  The  school  is 
for  both   sexes,  and   offers  three  complete  courses  of 


298  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

study,  viz.  the  college  preparatory,  of  three  years  ;  the 
ladies'  collegiate,  of  four  years  ;  the  English  course,  of 
four  years.  The  seminary  is  well  supplied  with  ana- 
tomical models,  skeletons,  charts,  globes,  stereopticon, 
table  and  gas  microscope,  and  apparatus  for  the  illustra- 
tion of  physiology,  astronomy,  philosophy,  and  chemis- 
try. The  cabinet  contains  an  excellent  collection  of 
minerals,  fossils,  and  natural  history  specimens,  and  su- 
perior facilities  are  offered  for  the  study  of  natural 
science. 

This  institution  bears  the  name  of  one  whose  gener- 
ous encouragement  was  given  it  in  the  beginning, —  Mr. 
Thomas  A.  Goddard.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Second 
Universalist  Church  in  Boston,  and  during  the  long 
pastorate  of  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou  was  the  faithful  super- 
intendent of  its  Sunday-school.  Prosperous  in  business, 
he  was  alwa}'S  liberal  in  his  contributions  to  the  church 
and  its  charities,  which  in  a  large  city  were  ever  making 
appeals  to  him.  From  the  time  of  the  first  movements 
for  the  founding  of  Tufts  College,  he  was  among  its 
most  interested  and  generous  helpers,  and  was  one  of 
the  first  treasurers  of  the  institution.  When,  a  few 
}Tears  since,  the  infant  seminary  at  Barre  became  embar- 
rassed, a  devoted  friend,  acting  as  its  agent,  determined 
to  make  a  vigorous  effort  in  its  behalf.  He  came  to 
Massachusetts,  and  calling  on  Mrs.  Goddard,  whose 
husband  had  aided  the  school  in  the  beginning,  the  re- 
sult was  Goddard  Seminary. 

Westbrook  Seminary  and  Female  College  is  a  board- 
ing-school for  young  men  and  women,  near  Portland,  in 
Deering  (post-office  Stevens  Plains),  Me.  The  institu- 
tion began  to  be  talked  of  as  early  as  1830.  A  gener- 
ous citizen  of  Westbrook,  Mr.  Zechariah  Stevens,  had 


^^6^  <^C      ^c^^U3u<-^C^ 


EDUCATIONAL  AIDS.  299 

resolved  to  donate  land  ample  enough  for  the  school  build- 
ings and  the  needed  adornment  around  them.  How  his 
gift  has  been  improved,  the  present  attractive  appearance 
of  the  seminary  declares.  The  institution  was  chartered 
in  1831,  and  opened  in  1834.  It  has  had  friendly  aids 
from  time  to  time,  one  of  them  being  Hersey  Hall,  the 
gift  of  Gen.  S.  F.  Hersey  of  Bangor.  Common  and 
higher  English  courses,  a  college  preparatory,  and  two 
collegiate  courses  for  ladies  are  provided  The  school- 
building  contains  the  chapel,  recitation-rooms,  library, 
laboratory,  and  cabinet  of  minerals.  Rev.  J.  P.  Weston, 
D.  D.,  is  president  of  the  institution. 

Green  Mountain  Perkins  Institute  is  situated  in  the 
village  of  South  Woodstock,  Vt.  It  was  incorporated 
in  1848,  and  has  since  been  in  successful  operation. 
The  school  is  for  both  sexes,  and  offers  three  complete 
courses  of  study.  The  classical,  of  three  }7ears,  includes 
Greek  and  Latin  sufficient  to  prepare  students  for  ad- 
mission to  any  New  England  college.  The  ladies'  col- 
legiate for  four  years  is  offered  to  those  wishing  to  take 
an  extended  course  in  Latin,  French,  and  German,  and 
higher  English.  The  school  has  gained  a  good  reputa- 
tion. 

In  this  presentation  of  the  principal  educational  insti- 
tutions founded  and  sustained  mainly  by  the  Universalist 
public,  it  is  seen  what  influences  may  go  out  from  them 
to  the  honor  of  the  Universalist  Church,  the  promotion 
of  literary  culture,  scientific  enlightenment,  and  Chris- 
tian civilization. 

It  may  be  well  here,  as  we  speak  of  educational  aids, 
to  recognize  the  instrumentality  of  the  Sunday-school, 
which  has  found  such  a  good  degree  of  encouragement 
from  the  friends  of  Christian  Universalis]!!.     It  has  been 


300  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

an  outgrowth  of  the  increased  conviction  among  them 
of  the  duty  of  instructing  the  rising  generation  in  the 
truth  and  life  of  the  Gospel.  From  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century  in  America  this  work  has  been 
recognized,  the  Universalists  in  Philadelphia  and  Boston 
manifesting  their  special  interest  in  it.1  Growth  in  this 
work  has  been  gradual  but  encouraging,  and  the  Sun- 
day-school is  now  one  of  the  cherished  institutions  of 
the  Universalist  Church.  Its  interests* are  widely  and 
earnestly  discussed,  and  the  means  for  its  advancement 
through  the  children's  paper  and  teachers'  "  Helper  " 
promise  good  results,  if  wisely  utilized  in  the  future. 
Although  still  needing  improvement,  the  Sunday-school 
may  be  regarded  with  this  church,  as  with  others  bear- 
ing the  Christian  name,  as  an  indispensable  aid  in  the 
moral  advancement  and  religious  culture  of  the  children 
and  youth  on  whom  will  rest  the  responsibilities  of  the 
church  in  the  years  to  come.  The  Sunday-school  cause 
was  never  more  generally  and  unitedly  encouraged  by 
Universalists  than  at  the  present  time. 

Another  educational  aid  worthy  of  note  is  that  to  be 
found  in  the  circulation  of  the  literature  of  the  church  ; 
its  periodicals,  books,  pamphlets,  and  tracts.  These 
have  thus  far  done  excellent  work  in  reaching  and 
awaking  interest  in  religious  truth  where  the  living 
preacher  has  not  gone.  A  hundred-fold  more  can  this 
be  done  by  a  just  appreciation  of  this  great  instrumen- 
tality,—  the  Press.  It  is  always  a  power  in  the  advo- 
cacy of  any  cause  ;  it  will  be  in  its  tendency  to  deepen 
and  strengthen  the  loyalty  of  Universalists  to  the  church 

1  See  an  article  in  the  Universalist  Quarterly  for  October,  1882,  en- 
titled "  The  Universalist  Origin  of  American  Sunday-schools,"  by  Eev. 
Richard  Eddy. 


EDUCATIONAL  AIDS.  301 

they  represent.     An  active  and  clear-sighted  agent  of 
one  of  our  Western  colleges  just  now  writes  :  — 

"  In  my  work  for  the  college,  the  closest  readers  of  our 
church  papers  are  the  ones  who  have  responded  most  readily 
to  the  call  for  help.  Loyalty  to  our  church  among  them  is 
the  rule,  while  among  those  who  do  not  take  a  paper,  he  is 
the  exception,  only,  who  responds  to  the  call.  Nothing  else 
can  be  so  powerful  an  ally  of  the  preacher  in  keeping  the 
people  informed  of  our  schools  and  colleges  and  all  other  in- 
terests ;  and  that  Universalis!  family  which  refuse  to  take  a 
church  paper  for  the  pittance  which  our  Western  organ  costs, 
— four  cents  a  week,  —  not  only  lose  much  of  interest  and 
enjoyment,  but  thereby  advertise  their  own  indifference  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  church. 

"  Strenuous  efforts  should,  for  these  reasons,  be  put  forth 
bj-  the  ministry  and  other  agencies  to  place  a  church  paper 
in  ever}*  Universalist  home  throughout  the  land."  1 

The  appeal  here  made  will  apply  to  any  locality. 
And  more  than  this.  These  readers  of  the  church  pub- 
lications are  themselves  to  seek  a  larger  distribution  of 
this  means  of  Divine  enlightenment  to  others.  Igno- 
rance of  Christian  truth  at  home  and  abroad,  —  in  our 
own  land  and  in  lands  less  blessed  with  heavenly  knowl- 
edge, —  is  constantly  calling  for  this  educational  work 
on  the  part  of  those  who  are  permitted  to  live  in  the 
light  and  cherish  the  hopes  of  the  Gospel  of  God's  im- 
partial and  efficient  grace. 

1  Bead  at  the  Ohio  Convention,  by  W.  F.  Crispin,  Financial  Agent  for 
Buchtel  College. 


302  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

THE   LAITY. 

"  All  the  members  have  not  the  same  office.  One  body  in  Christ,  and 
severally  members  one  of  another."  —  Rom.  xii.  4,  5. 

A  LTHOUGH  in  the  biographical  sketches  contained 
-*■  *-  in  this  volume  those  of  the  ministry  are  made 
conspicuous,  the  writer  is  sensitively  aware  of  the  fact 
that  many  devoted  and  honorable  laymen,  who  have 
faithfully  and  essentially  sustained  the  ministry,  are 
equally  worthy  of  record  for  their  works'  sake.  A  sep- 
arate volume,  such  as  we  are  not  able  to  make  up,  would 
be  required  to  do  them  justice.  We  take  occasion, 
however,  to  speak  a  word  in  way  of  sincere  and  grateful 
tribute  to  these  good  and  strong  helpers,  through  whom 
the  ministry  has  received  inspiration  and  strength. 

No  sect  can  live  mainly  on  the  dignity,  or  piety,  or 
learning,  or  good  reputation  of  its  ministry.  Leaning 
too  much  on  these,  it  will  grow  formal  and  cold  ;  will 
fail  to  become  an  active  force  among  the  masses,  in 
the  midst  of  the  opposing  hosts  of  this  great  world 
around  it.  To  sustain  a  ministry  as  a  kind  of  moral  or 
spiritual  convenience,  to  wait  upon  it  chiefly  to  be  en- 
tertained, or  to  be  satisfied  with  the  respectable  precision 
with  which  its  functions  are  performed,  and  thus  to  keep 
in  "  good  standing  "  with  the  Christian  community  and 
the  observant  world,  is  different  entirely  from  the  intent 


THE  LAITY.  303 

of  that  great  spiritual  enterprise  which  the  New  Testa- 
ment upholds. 

It  was  a  significant  saying  of  the  rebuild ers  of  the 
ancient  temple,  that  "  the  people  had  a  mind  to  work." 
Leaders,  priests,  prophets,  master-builders  were  aided 
by  others  on  every  hand,  and  so  the  work  went  suc- 
cessfully on.  It  must  be  thus  in  the  uprearing  and 
strengthening  of  the  walls  of  the  Christian  Zion.  With 
the  diversities  of  gifts,  there  is  to  be  the  one  spirit,  one 
will  and  endeavor,  and  the  one  glorious  end  constantly 
in  view.  The  direction  of  the  apostle  to  the  Church  at 
Rome  gives  us  the  true  idea  :  "  We,  being  many,  are 
one  body  in  Christ,  and  every  one  members  one  of  an- 
other." He  used  the  well-known  illustration  of  the 
limbs  and  members  of  the  human  body  to  describe  the 
several  offices  and  functions  in  the  Church  :  setting 
the  right  estimate  on  the  diversity  and  unity  of  those 
who  composed  it,  giving  to  all  their  places  and  to  each 
its  share  of  the  essential  life-work  to  be  done. 

Of  the  true  and  faithful  "  women-workers  "  of  the 
Universal ist  Church  we  have  freely  spoken  ;  to  the 
fidelity  of  the  good  and  faithful  men  we  would  as  read- 
ily testify.  Names  we  may  not  mention,  for,  these  once 
given,  we  should  be  unable  to  decide  where  to  close  the 
record.  But  this  we  can  say,  —  and  every  faithful  min- 
ister will  bear  witness  to  the  truth  of  our  statement,  — 
that  among  his  experiences  none  have  been  more  uplift- 
ing than  those  connected  with  the  co-operation  of  true 
souls  who  have  waited  on  his  ministry,  and  given  their 
ready  counsel  and  sure  and  steady  support.  The  min- 
ister of  the  city  with  his  incessant  toils  and  cares,  the 
country  pastor  in  his  quiet  rounds  of  duty,  or  the  mis- 
sionary-evangelist having  his  preaching-stations  at  long 


304  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

distances  from  each  other,  all  have  been  doubly  blessed 
in  their  anxious  and  unremitting  toils  in  the  Lord's  field 
by  the  cordial  smiles  and  welcome  greetings  and  gener- 
ous encouragements  of  the  lay  friends  who,  by  spirit 
and  action,  have  been  all  the  time  bidding  them  "  God- 
speed "  on  their  way. 

"How  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher?"  is  a 
very  sensible  New  Testament  question.  How  shall  the 
preacher  be  sustained  and  blessed  by  his  hearers  ?  is 
another  of  equal  weight  and  timeliness.  A  society  or 
church  is  to  be  formed  ;  a  Sunday-school  organized  ; 
ways  and  means  instituted  to  secure  a  financial  basis  to 
carry  on  the  work  of  the  church.  Where  rests  the  re- 
sponsibility, and  where  the  directing  and  sustaining 
force,  but  in  the  few,  perhaps,  who  are  to  be  depended 
upon  in  every  such  movement,  and  who  give  confidence 
and  courage  to  others  who  are  gladly  willing  to  do  their 
parts  with  them. 

A  low  tide  comes  in  society  affairs  ;  adversities  have 
been  realized,  and  the  faint-hearted  are  prophesying 
failure.  Who  but  the  few  "  stand-bys  "  are  among  the 
hopeful  and  helping  ;  those  always  readiest  with  their 
money,  always  in  their  places  at  the  worship  service,  or 
in  the  conference  meeting  or  the  Sunday-school?  What 
would  be  the  courage  of  the  minister  but  for  this  loyal 
church-guard  ever  to  be  depended  on  ? 

A  church  edifice  is  to  be  built,  or  a  church  debt 
cancelled  ?  Who  shall  lead  in  the  business  ?  the  min- 
ister ?  Yes,  if  he  can  more  conveniently  than  any  other 
one.  But  what  shall  his  "  lead  "  be  without  followers  ? 
On  whom  does  he  most  rely  ?  On  those  laymen  who 
are  only  waiting  for  his  word  to  begin  the  work.  Their 
generous  zeal  will  awaken  new  interest  in  others,  and 


THE  LAITY.  805 

this  "  striving  together  "  of  minister  and  people  will 
insure  success. 

A  pastor  is  out  on  a  mission  of  private  charity.  The 
case  of  a  poor  widow,  or  sick  and  needy  husband  and 
father,  or  some  suffering  and  desponding  one  needing 
help  and  comfort,  is  tugging  at  his  heart-strings,  and  the 
immediate  resources  of  his  pocket  are  not  equal  to  the 
demand.  What  then  ?  He  knows  just  where  to  go, 
directly,  quietly,  to  the  counting-room,  or  store,  or  farm- 
house of  that  layman  whose  religion  makes  him  glad  to 
"  do  good  and  to  communicate,"  and  whose  worldly 
store  gives  him  opportunity  thus  to  bless  himself  as  he 
confers  a  blessing  on  others. 

A  college  needs  an  additional  endowment.  Money  is 
required.  The  president  or  some  other  friend  of  the 
institution  goes  forth  in  confidence  that,  on  a  truthful 
representation  of  the  needs,  certain  ones  will  listen  with 
interest  and  liberally  respond  to  the  call,  and,  as  the 
annual  report  at  the  next  Commencement  declares,  he 
is  not  disappointed.     He  has  consulted  the  laymen. 

The  General  or  State  Convention  makes  its  annual 
call  upon  the  parish  for  its  apportioned  contribution  to 
the  funds  for  the  general  work  of  the  church,  and  its 
extension  beyond  existing  parish  lines  ;  for  missionary 
operations  in  the  waste  places,  that  they  may  be  blessed 
with  the  light  and  joy  of  the  Gospel.  Who  will  be  sure 
to  meet  truly  and  promptly  this  call  ?  The  loyal  lay- 
man who  has  made  himself  acquainted  through  the 
church  journals  and  from  his  minister  in  the  pulpit  with 
the  just  and  holy  demands  of  this  enterprise,  and  who 
has  never  indulged  himself  in  laying  back  from  it,  say- 
ing, "  We  have  enough  to  do  to  meet  our  own  parish 
expenses!  "     No,  he  and  such  as  he  now  cheer  the  heart 

20 


306  FIFTt  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

of  his  minister,  and  make  glad  sister  parishes,  and  add 
credit  to  the  whole  church. 

A  blessing  like  this  cannot  be  too  highly  prized,  can- 
not awaken  too  strong  a  thanksgiving.  A  faithful  min- 
istry the  church  must  have  or  fail.  But  this  ministry, 
to  be  strong  and  prevail,  must  have  for  its  fresh  inspira- 
tion the  hopeful  eyes  and  ready  hands  and  throbbing 
hearts  of  a  constant  and  loyal  laity. 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK.  807 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE   PRESENT   OUTLOOK. 

"  No  man  can  be  assured  of  his  own  salvation,  except  he  see  the  same 
salvation  in  the  same  Saviour  for  all  men,  as  well  as  for  himself  ;  which 
is  to  love  his  neighbor  as  himself."  —  Richard  Coppin.1 

r  I  ^HAT  the  errors  connected  with  what  has  been 
-*-  deemed  the  Orthodoxy  of  the  past  are  passing 
away  is  undeniable.  We  have  been  noting  this  on 
every  page  of  this  volume.  The  Christian  pulpit  and 
the  religious  and  secular  press  are  bringing  out  new 
confirmations  of  it  continually.  Take  two  indications ; 
first,  the  emphatic  utterances  coming  from  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  England  and  America.  It  is  Rev.  Charles 
Kingsley  who  writes :  "  I  preach  to  you  a  Son  of  God 
who  has  declared  everlasting  war  against  disease,  ignor- 
ance, sin,  death,  and  all  which  makes  men  miserable. 
Those  are  his  enemies,  and  he  reigns  and  will  reign,  till 
he  has  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet,  and  there  is  nothing 
left  in  God's  universe  but  order  and  usefulness,  health 
and  beauty,  knowledge  and  virtue,  in  the  day  when  God 

1  These  significant  words  of  an  advocate  of  Universalism  more  than 
two  centuries  ago  are  in  striking  agreement  with  those  of  an  advanced 
orthodox  thinker  of  the  present  time.  "  It  should  never  be  forgotten  that 
in  the  Biblical  philosophy  of  salvation  the  life  of  the  individual  is  bound 
up  with  the  life  of  the  whole,  and  reaches  its  fulness  and  completion 
only  in  the  liberty  for  which  the  whole  creation  waits."  —  "  The  Ortho- 
dox Theology  of  To-day  ;  "  by  Rev.  Newman  Smyth,  D.  D. 


308  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

shall  be  all  in  all."  It  is  Canon  Farrar  at  Westminster 
Abbey  who  is  awaking  deep  interest  in  his  vigorous 
exposures  of  the  hicleousness  of  the  old  ideas  of  a 
wrathful  God  who  would  punish  some  of  his  simple 
offspring  hereafter  "  without  relief  and  without  end." 
His  volumes  entitled  "  Eternal  Hope  "  and  "  Judgment 
and  Mercy,"  are  full  of  references  to  the  opinions  of 
others  in  the  past,  who  have  opposed  these  errors,  — 
although  most  of  them  are  not  new  to  readers  and 
students  of  Universalist  literature,  —  and  are  among  the 
harbingers  of  that  coming  day  when  the  absurdities 
which  he  assails  shall  be  numbered  among  the  things 
that  were.  His  admissions  of  the  force  of  the  argu- 
ments of  Universalist  writers  are  such  as  will  awaken  new 
inquiry  in  many  directions,  notwithstanding  he  takes  occa- 
sion to  affirm  of  himself  most  distinctly,  "  But  I  am  not  a 
Universalist."  We  can  only  say  that,  if  he  is  not,  he  is 
doing  no  small  share  of  a  work  which  will  tend  to  make 
others  avowers  and  defenders  of  this  faith.  Others  of 
the  ministry  in  England,  like  the  late  Dr.  Maurice,  Rev. 
Frederick  Robertson,  and  Rev.  Stopford  Brooke,  have 
given  their  testimonies  in  behalf  of  these  higher  and 
clearer  views  of  Christian  theology.  In  America,  such 
men  as  Drs.  Holland  and  Phillips  Brooks,  are  advocates 
of  the  improved  theology,  the  last-named  explicitly 
affirming  his  faith  in  the  final  salvation  of  all  souls. 
Dr.  Heber  Newton,  rector  of  the  Anthon  Memorial 
Episcopal  Church  at  New  York,  in  his  sermon  on  the 
death  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Chapin,  said  that  — 

"  Dr.  Chapin,  knowing  the  feeling  of  the  church  against  the 
new  ism,  boldly  became  its  preacher,  for  he  recognized  its 
great  and  noble  mission.  That  sin  had  its  recompense,  he 
never  doubted,  but  his  doctrine  of  '  God  is  love,'  was  so  elo- 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK.  809 

quently  preached  that  the  theologians  reconsidered  their  doc- 
trines of  retribution.  Even  the  Episcopal  Church,  he  sa3_s, 
in  recently  reviewing  the  articles,  struck  out  the  one  about 
eternal  punishment.  When  Universalism  began  its  mission, 
religion  so  to  speak,  had  become  ossified  and  rigid,  and  it 
was  necessaiy,  to  meet  the  advanced  thought  of  the  age,  that 
some  change  be  made  in  it.  The  force  that  wrought  this 
change,  developed  outside  of  the  Orthodox  Church,  and  it  has 
been  instrumental  in  banishing  much  of  the  barbarism  and 
cruelty  of  expression  which  Christians  borrowed  from  the 
Pagans." 

The  Presbyterian  and  Methodist  Churches  have  had 
their  experiences  in  the  agitation  of  these  questions  in- 
volving the  acceptance  or  rejection  of  the  leading  points 
of  theology  held  by  them  in  the  past.  But  the  freest 
and  boldest  utterances  on  this  subject  seem  to  have 
come  from  the  Congregationalist  Churches.  Members  of 
the  Beecher  family  have  been  quite  conspicuous  in 
their  allusions  to  the  old  and  abhorrent  doctrines  of 
Calvinism  ;  as  for  instance,  Mrs.  Stowe,  in  her  "  Minis- 
ter's Wooing'"  and  "Old  Town  Folks;"  her  sister 
Catherine,  in  her  emphatic  saying,  that,  as  this  theology 
is  set  forth,  "  there  must  be  an  awful  mistake  some- 
where ;. "  Dr.  Edward  Beecher,  in  his  "  Conflict  of 
Ages"  (a  work  ably  reviewed  by  Rev.  Moses  Ballou) ; 
and  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  who  has  just  now 
affirmed  that  he  will  never  more  preach  the  horrible 
doctrine  of  endless  punishment.  After,  repeating  a 
statement  he  had  made,  that  the  dogma  of  endless 
suffering  is  the  cause  of  increasing  infidelity,  Dr.  Ed- 
ward Beecher  says,  that  "  Universalism  is  no  longer 
restricted  within  denominational  lines,  but  is  now  dif- 
fused   more    widely    than    some    suspect,"    that   "  the 


310  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

preaching  of  the  doctrine  is  largely  neutralized  by  a 
latent  Universalism  within  the  walls  of  evangelical 
churches,"  that  some  of  the  clergy  "  dare  not  investi- 
gate the  dogma  (endless  suffering)  in  an  impartial, 
scientific  method,  lest  they  bring  themselves  into  con- 
flict with  the  creed  they  are  expected  to  defend ;  "  and 
closes  thus :  "  Meanwhile  the  creed-doctrine  of  an  end- 
less punishment  is  seldom  discussed  from  the  pulpit, 
and  never  willingly  heard  by  the  pews."  Significant 
indeed  is  the  closing  of  his  volume  on  the  "  Scriptural 
Doctrine  of  Retribution :  "  "  Even  admitting  that  the 
doctrine  of  eternal  punishment  is  the  word  of  God,  it 
seems  to  be  forgotten  that  allegations  may  be  attached 
to  it  that  shall  make  it  to  be  not  the  word  of  God,  but 
the  greatest  falsehood  in  the  Universe." 

At  the  Congregationalist  Convention  in  Boston  in 
1865  the  difficult  problem  came  up  to  be  solved,  "  how 
they  could  state  what  they  themselves  had  come  to 
believe,  without  appearing  to  deny  what  the  fathers 
believed."  Assembled  at  the  old  Burial  Hill  of  the 
Pilgrims  in  Plymouth,  they  affirmed  their  adherence 
to  the  "substance  of  the  Westminster  and  Saybrook 
Confessions  of  Faith."  To  clothe  this  "substance"  in 
verbal  forms,  making  it  a  true  statement  of  the  old 
theology  of  Puritanism,  and  at  the  same  time  a  living 
thing  of  to-day,  would  seem  to  be  an  undertaking  re- 
sulting in  as  great  a  confusion  of  tongues  as  in  any 
instance  recorded  in  the  history  of  the  past.  To  keep 
intact  the  theology  of  the  past  in  their  churches  is  an 
impossibility. 

For,  let  us  understand  that  the  most  thoughtful 
among  the  theologians  of  nearly  all  the  churches  are 
now  beginning  to  feel  the  force  of  the  question  hither- 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK.  311 

to  hushed  clown,  as  it  has  been  boldly  asked  or  even 
whispered  in  the  face  of  the  theology  of  the  past  : 
What  is  the  Divine  responsibility  in  the  creation  of 
man  ?  It  is  the  question  asked  by  Hosea  Ballou,  in 
his  youth,  of  his  father,  a  Baptist  minister :  "  Would 
it  be  an  act  of  goodness  on  my  part  to  create  a  human 
being,  ■ —  had  I  the  power,  —  knowing  that  his  existence 
would  prove  an  endless  curse  to  him?"  a  question 
which  the  father  was  unable  to  answer,  and  which 
the  son  did  not  press  strongly  upon  him.  This  ques- 
tion, though  familiar  enough  to  Universalists  and  long 
made  a  ground  of  argument  concerning  human  destiny, 
has  usually  been  evaded  by  the  supporters  of  the  popu- 
lar theology,  as  beyond  the  reach  of  human  reason. 
They  have  regarded  the  inquiry  as  to  the  responsibil- 
ity of  God  in  the  creation  of  man  as  irreverent  on  the 
part  of  his  feeble  offspring.  But  the  question  has  been 
considered  and  earnestly  examined,  and  the  discussion 
of  it  has  elicited  the  most  outspoken  opinions  as  to  the 
result  of  the  investigation. 

Rev.  W.  W.  Patton,  D.  D.  of  Howard  University, 
has  recently  spoken  very  definitely  on  this  subject, 
although  he  acknowledges  that  it  has  not  been  a  legit- 
imate one  to  be  decided  upon  by  the  theologians  of 
his  school.  He  affirms  that  the  Divine  reason  like  our 
own  (we  being  made  in  the  Divine  image)  includes  the 
eternal,  unchangeable,  and  imperative  idea  of  right,  the 
practical  synonym  of  which  is  love,  —  love  being  that 
which  always,  everywhere,  and  in  all  beings,  expresses 
the  right  or  sums  up  duty.  He  reaches  the  conclusion 
that  God  chooses  love  as  the  rule  of  his  activity,  that 
when  he  creates  rational  sensitive  beings,  by  that  very 
fact  he  put  himself  voluntarily  into  a  relation  which 


312  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

calls  upon  him  to  act  upon  the  principle  of  love,  which 
gives  them  a  right  to  expect  that  he  will  so  act. 

It  is  an  answer  to  the  question  of  Abraham,  "  Shall 
not  the  judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right  ?  "  and  of  Paul, 
"  Is  God  unrighteous  ?  "  In  agreement  with  this  rea- 
soning of  Dr.  Patton,  is  that  of  Rev.  John  Miller  of 
Princeton,  N,  J.,  who  just  now  affirms  :  — 

"  A  deformed  God  is  a  great  light  gone  out  from  any  re- 
ligion, and  is  the  chief  ally  of  infidelity.  God  is  not  to  be 
worshipped  because  he  is  powerful,  any  more  than  Satan  is  ; 
but  because  he  is  moral.  If  he  wrongs  me  in  bringing  me 
into  being,  he  is  no  sovereign  to  me."  x 

In  the  same  strain  comes  this  testimony  from  Miss 
Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps,  of  Andover,  in  a  late  number 
of  the  "  North  American  Review  :  "  — 

"  The  Bible  meets  us  squarely  upon  the  deepest  and  the 
highest  question  which  the  finite  intellect  has  the  right  to  ask  : 
What,  having  made  us  at  all,  is  God's  moral  attitude  toward 
us?  When  he  thrust  into  space  this  quivering  ball  of  pain 
and  error,  did  he  mean  well  enough  by  it  to  justify  the  deed  ? 
Profounder  than  all  our  philosophy,  wiser  than  all  our  pro- 
test, comes  the  sublime  and  solitar}'  answer :  '  He  so  loved 
the  world  that  He  gave  his  only  Son.'  This  magnificent 
reply,  which  theology  has  distorted  out  of  its  grand  and 
simple  proportions,  to  which  science  has  refused  its  supreme 
reasonableness,  the  true  human  heart  and  the  clear  human 
head  have  accepted.  The  contortions  of  faith  and  the  malice 
of  doubt  have  almost  equally  united  to  shake  the  hold  of  this 
great  re-assurance  upon  the  world.  The  world  will  have  it 
in  spite  of  both.     The  world  will  have  it,  because  it  is  the 

1  Article  in  the  "  Universalist  Quarterly,"  for  July,  1882,  "  The  Divine 
Responsibility,"  by  Rev.  C.  W.  Riddle. 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK.  313 

best  it  can  get ;  and  by  all  the  iron  laws  of  common  sense  it 
will  keep  the  best  till  God  or  man  can  offer  it  something 
better." 

Even  so.     Amen ! 

At  the  present  time  the  orthodoxy  of  Andover  Theo- 
logical Institution  is  assuming  new  and  strange  aspects. 
During  the  recent  discussions  respecting  the  invitation 
to  Dr.  Newman  Smyth  to  accept  a  professorship  at  the 
institution,  this  avowal  on  the  part  of  the  professors 
still  in  their  places  there  is  given  to  the  public  :  — 

"  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  doctrines  of  eternal  punish- 
ment and  of  the  judgment  have  lost  their  proper  place  in  the 
teachings  of  the  pulpit.  That  method  alone  can  restore  them 
to  a  reflective  age  which  refuses  to  put  into  them  more  than 
our  Saviour  left  in  them,  and  which  brings  them  into  accord 
with  the  knowledge  of  divine  truth  which  the  spirit  of  Christ 
is  ever  developing  in  his  Church.  Christianity  educates  men 
to  ever  higher,  broader,  more  truthful  conceptions  of  God. 
The  questionings  of  to-day  in  Christian  hearts  respecting  the 
doctrine  of  eternal  punishment  are  a  consequence  of  the  ele- 
vating and  spiritualizing  power  of  the  Gospel.  The  Church 
should  seek  out  positions  that  can  be  held.  It  should  be  in 
advance  of  its  enemies." 

This  change,  it  is  affirmed  by  the  Andover  profes- 
sors, — 

".  .  .  is  a  natural  development  of  principles  which  the  New 
England  theology  has  especially  cultivated.  These  principles 
have  gained  their  rights  only  by  hard  conflicts.  At  every 
stage  the  cry  of  heresy  has  filled  the  air,  but  they  have  won  the 
da}'.  They  have  banished  the  dogmas  of  guilt  for  Adam's  sin, 
of  infant  damnation,  of  passive  regeneration,  of  the  universal 
perdition  of  the  heathen.  They  have  been  attended  all  along 
by  concessions,  —  concession  of  the  dogmas  that  all   men 


814  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

sinned  in  Adam,  that  Adam  was  their  federal  head,  that  the 
death  of  Christ  was  only  for  the  elect ;  concession  that  '  elect 
infants  '  who  die  in  infancy  include  all  such  ;  that  we  cannot 
fix  the  time  when  moral  agency  begins  ;  that  none  who  die 
before  this  point  is  reached  are  excluded  from  salvation  ;  and 
so  on,  through  ever-advancing  modifications.  The  path  of 
New  England  theology  is  thus  strewn  with  concessions,  — 
concessions  to  an  advancing  knowledge  of  God's  Word,  conces- 
sions to  truth  I  "  1 

Very  explicit  language,  surely.  And  yet,  in  direct 
conflict  with  it,  there  is  the  fact  that  the  Andover  creed, 
to  which  all  professors  of  the  institution  must  give 
their  assent,  involves  the  doctrines  of  the  Trinity  and 
Vicarious  Atonement ;  that  "  by  nature  every  man  is 
personally  depraved,  destitute  of  holiness,  alike  opposed 
to  God  ;  and  that,  previously  to  the  renewing  agency 
of  the  Divine  Spirit,  all  his  moral  actions  are  adverse  to 
the  character  and  glory  of  God  ;  that,  being  morally  in' 
capable  of  recovering  the  image  of  his  Creator,  which 
was  lost  in  Adam,  every  man  is  justly  exposed  to  eternal 
damnation;  so  that,  except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  can- 
not see  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  that  God  of  his  mere  good 
pleasure,  from  all  eternity,  selected  some  to  everlasting 
life,  and  that  he  entered  into  a  covenant  of  grace,  to 
deliver  them  out  of  this  state  of  sin  and  misery  by  a 
Redeemer."  Yes,  the  Andover  creed  declares  there  is 
a  final  separation  from  the  love  of  God,  which  cannot 
wrest  the  erring  soul  from  the  grasp  of  death,  cannot 
bridge  the  grave,  cannot  descend  into  the  depths  and 
bring  up  to  life  and  light  its  own  offspring.  Christ  him- 
self may  declare,  "  I  will  draw  all  men  unto  me  ; "  the 

1  Published  opinions  of  the  Professors  of  Andover  Theological  Semi- 
nary, April  10,  1882. 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK.  315 

Andover  creed  says,  No !  No  salvation  for  the  soul  that 
has  entered  death's  dark  realm.  No  matter  that  Christ 
has  the  keys  of  hell,  he  cannot  rescue  !  No  matter  that 
the  time  has  been  foretold  when  "  death  and  the  grave 
shall  be  destroyed,*'  when  "  there  shall  be  an  end  of 
sin,"  when  pain  shall  no  longer  pierce  and  tears  no 
longer  flow  ;  in  opposition  to  all  this  the  Andover 
creed  tells  us,  as  an  essential  part  of  Christian  faith,  as 
one  of  the  inspiring  strains  of  the  Gospel  message,  that 
"  the  wicked  "  whom  Christ  came  to  save,  "  will  awake 
to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt,  and  with  devils  be 
plunged  into  the  lake  that  burnetii  with  fire  and  brim- 
stone for  ever  and  ever." 

How  are  these  theological  contradictions  to  be  ex- 
plained ?  Infidels  are  sneering  at  this  double-dealing  ; 
honest  Christians  are  asking,  "What  is  to  be  the  issue  of 
this  conflict  ?  Why  do  not  these  religious  leaders  state 
plainly  where  they  stand,  and  what  they  would  have 
the  churches  accept  and  affirm  as  the  truth  of  God?" 
The  question  has  been  aptly  asked,  "  Is  the  moral  sense 
at  Andover  Institution  paralyzed  ?  The  situation  is 
perfectly  clear  to  every  honest  barber,  shop-keeper,  or 
shoemaker,  and  it  makes  a  hundred  infidels  where  the 
'Age  of  Reason'  makes  one."1  It  is  a  matter  for 
congratulation  that  the  Christian  world  has  been  moved, 
that  its  thought  has  been  so  largely  modified,  and  that 
it  is  our  great  honor  "  to  stand  at  the  centre,  however 
men  may  hesitate  to  acknowledge  it,  towards  which 
these  lines  of  influence  are  tending."  2  But  why,  we 
must  ask,  are  not  these  professed  friends  of  Christian 
truth  in  all  the  churches  more  in  readiness  to  acknowl- 
edge this  indication,  and  plainly  state  what  they  think 

1  "  Christian  Leader."  2  Rev.  A.  A.  Miner,  D.  D. 


316  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

of  it  ?  Why  hesitate  and  stand  in  the  shadow  of  their 
old  errors,  when  it  is  so  clearly  evident  that  they  can 
be  no  longer  successfully  maintained,  and  which  do  not 
represent  their  real  opinions  ?  Why  not  say  outright, 
"  We  were  mistaken  in  accepting  and  teaching  these 
doctrines  of  total  depravity,  election,  and  reprobation, 
infant  and  endless  damnation,  and  have  come  to  see 
that  God  is  the  Father  of  all  men,  and  that  in  all  his 
dealings  with  his  children  he  will  act  in  strict  conformity 
with  his  paternal  justice  and  love  ?  "  Are  we  to  con- 
clude that  there  is  .with  them  the  plague  of  a  confused 
moral  sense,  which  hinders  the  honest  and  prompt 
avowal,  on  their  part,  of  the  truth  of  that  Gospel  of  Di- 
vine grace  "  that  bringeth  salvation  to  all  men  ?  " 

To  avoid  the  admission  of  the  truth  of  Universalism, 
there  are  not  a  few  who  seem  disposed  to  tarry  at  the 
half-way  ground  of  the  doctrine  of  the  annihilation  of 
the  wicked,  as  though  in  these  desperate  cases  of  sinful- 
ness the  saving  resources  of  the  Infinite  love  were  ex- 
hausted, and  God  could  make  no  better  disposition  than 
this  utter  destruction  of  those  created  in  his  own  image, 
and  capable  of  knowing,  serving,  and  enjoying  him  for- 
ever. Strange  that  God's  children  can  so  limit  his  sav- 
ing love  and  power  !  Is  there  any  instance  of  sinfulness 
that  cannot  be  reached  by  that  grace  which  so  much 
more  abounds  than  any  transgression  of  men  ? 

Another  conclusion  which  inquirers  reach  is  that  of 
the  indefiniteness  in  which  this  question  of  the  ultimate 
results  of  the  Divine  government  is  involved.  As  though, 
on  a  subject  of  such  unspeakable  interest  as  this  to 
every  mortal,  there  could  be  indefiniteness  in  a  Revela- 
tion involving  the  truth  of  man's  origin,  duty,  and 
destiny !     Why  not  indefiniteness  in  this  Revelation  as 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK.  317 

to  the  being  of  a  God  and  his  attributes,  as  to  man's 
whole  duty,  as  to  the  objects  of  Christ's  mission,  as  to 
the  immortal  existence  of  any  souls  ?  No  !  the  eminent 
Christian  apostle  will  teach  us  all  better,  as  he  does  in 
his  lofty  assurance  of  the  extent  of  God's  claims  on  his 
children  and  his  paternal  interest  in  them  :  "  For  I  am 
persuaded  that  neither  death  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor 
principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things 
to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature, 
shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."  l  Everlasting  thanks  to 
heaven  for  the  definiteness  respecting  this  great  ques- 
tion, which  the  advocates  of  Christian  Universalism  have 
constantly  maintained.  These  hesitancies,  haltings,  eva- 
sions, policies,  will  have  their  day,  and  through  them 
and  after  them  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  will  find  its 
open  avowal  and  vindication.  Here  is  the  prophecy, 
years  since  made  by  one  of  the  ablest  and  worthiest  of 
Christian  ministers.  "  Whoso  readeth,  let  him  under- 
stand." 

"  A  few  generations  more,  and  the  system  you  have  advo- 
cated will  be  among  the  things  that  are  only  remembered. 
You  will  abandon  it,  but  by  degrees  ;  as  the  truth  increases 
you  will  begin  by  first  exploding  the  old  notion  that  infants 
are  damned,  and  by  avowing  the  salvation  of  all  who  die  in 
early  life.  Then  you  will  proceed  to  reject  so  much  of  your 
doctrine  as  to  allow  that  a  very  small  part  of  mankind,  here 
and  there  an  individual,  will  be  sent  to  hell.  And  continuing 
the  work,  you  will  at  length  determine  that  even  these  will 
there  suffer  no  other  pain  than  the  remorse  of  conscience  ; 
next,  that  their  remorse  will  be  no  greater,  in  degree,  than 
what  is  experienced  in  this  world.     And  finally  you  will  give 

1  Rom.  viii.  38. 


318  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

up  the  remainder,  first,  in  confidential  whispers  among  your- 
selves, and  then,  after  the  common  people  shall  have  gener- 
ally led  the  wa}',  you  will  come  out  boldly,  and  preach  God 
as  the  Father  of  all  and  the  Saviour  of  all."  1 

Many  a  one  not  now  ready  to  acknowledge  the  claims 
of  the  faith  of  the  Universalist  Church  has  this,  mainly, 
as  his  reason  for  it,  that  it  has  not  been  for  centuries 
past  the  popular  faith  of  the  churches  in  Christendom. 
There  are  great  numbers  of  Christians  who  have  in 
reality  no  more  plausible  reason  why  they  are  not  better 
acquainted  and  more  in  love  with  this  faith.  Whenever 
they  have  heard  it  spoken  of  it  has  been  in  such  words 
as  to  lead  them  to  regard  it  as  a  modern  innovation. 
Beyond  this  they  have  not  looked.  Convinced  of  this, 
they  have  not  desired  to  look  farther.  But  they  should. 
A  faith  making  such  pretensions  and  appeals  ought  to 
be  looked  after.  Men  are  not  wise  and  humane  ;  they 
are  not  lovers  of  their  race  and  its  truest  well-wishers 
in  the  Christian  sense  ;  they  are  not  in  readiness  to  re- 
joice in  view  of  the  widest  and  most  thorough  dispensa- 
tion of  Divine  grace,  in  the  most  extensive  and  effectual 
work  of  salvation  through  the  "  One  Lord  Jesus  Christ," 
while  they  regard  with  indifference  the  affirmation 
which  the  Gospel  makes  of  this  very  work  with  all 
souls.  Is  it  true?  This  ought  to  be  the  eager  in- 
quiry of  everyone  professing  faith  in  the  significance  of 

1  Rev.  Hosea  Ballou,  D.  D.  Reply  to  Dr.  Hawes's  Arguments  against 
Universalism.  It  was  nearly  a  half-century  ago  that  these  words  were 
written.  And  now  at  this  very  time  there  comes  this  echo  of  them  in 
confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  prophecy  :  "  Little  bv  little  the  pulpit 
shrinks  from  the  mediaeval  theology.  Ministers  first  gloss  it  by  new 
interpretations,  then  they  prudently  hold  it  in  suspense,  then  doubt  it, 
then  cast  it  away."  Rev.  H.  W.  Beecher,  in  "  North  American  Review," 
July,  1882. 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK.  319 

the  second  commandment,  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thyself."  Where  this  love  pervades  the  heart, 
will  not  that  heart  seek  every  evidence  that  can  be 
offered  in  proof  of  this  most  desirable  of  all  results,  the 
reconciliation  of  all  souls  to  the  Divine  administration, 
the  Divine  love  regenerating,  uplifting,  and  glorifying 
all  God's  offspring?  We  press  these  questions  home, 
without  a  word  of  apology,  to  every  lover  of  Christ  and 
the  Christian  cause. 

If  these  hesitating  ones  of  whom  we  speak  would  take 
up  the  examination,  they  would  find  that  some  of  the 
clearest  and  noblest  minds  of  the  past  have  given  their 
assent  to  this  very  faith,  and  that  the  doctrines  in  oppo- 
sition to  it  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  past  questioning 
when  they  have  been  sanctioned  by  generations  involved 
in  as  much  mental  and  moral  darkness  as  most  of  those 
which  have  preceded  us. 

Christ  came  to  teach  positive  truth,  and  his  religion 
invites  the  largest  and  freest  inquiry  as  to  its  claims. 
And  so  this  theology  of  the  past  will  be  investigated. 
It  is  undergoing  the  process  now  in  minds  and  in  the 
midst  of  institutions  where  this  old  conviction  of  the 
superiority  and  sacredness  of  the  past  has  been  revered 
as  it  never  can  be  again.  All  the  sects  are  more  or  less 
affected  with  this  contagion  of  inquiry.  It  will  not  be 
suppressed.  To  silence  it  for  a  season  is  but  allowing 
it  to  accumulate  greater  force  with  which  it  shall  again 
make  itself  manifest.  Said  a  speaker,  a  few  years  since, 
in  a  Methodist  Conference  in  New  York  city  :  — 

"  What  reason  can  be  given  for  the  difference  in  mani- 
festation of  conviction  of  sin  between  our  day  and  the  times 
of  our  fathers  ?  Whereas  we  used  to  preach  to  sinners  that 
an  endless  hell  awaited  all  who   died  in  their  sins,  we  now 


820  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

leave  the  fact  almost  wholly  out  of  sight.  We  say  we  believe 
that  when  men  thus  die  they  go  to  a  place  of  everlasting 
burnings,  where  the  Almighty  tortures  them  alive  as  long  as 
he  the  Almighty  lives.  If  we  believe  this,  why  do  we  not 
preach  it  now?  Why  do  not  our  editors  write  about  it,  and 
our  bishops  thunder  it  from  their  pulpits  till\  the  people 
tremble  ? " 

A  brother  minister  present  took  exception  to  these  re- 
marks. He  thought  that  the  Christians  made  by  what 
were  termed  the  "  reformed  methods  "  of  the  day  are  as 
abundant  in  good  works,  and  their  lives  redound  to  the 
glory  of  God  full  as  much  as  was  the  case  under  the 
machinery  of  fifty  years  ago.  "  We  do  not  propose  to 
go  back  on  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to-day,  be- 
cause he  acts  now  in  ways  different  from  those  of  old." 
A  sensible  conclusion.  The  churches  are  growing,  — 
growing  out  of  unreasonable  doctrines  which  had  their 
origin  in  the  darkness  of  the  olden  time,  and  which  must 
vanish  away  as  the  full  day  of  Christian  truth  comes  in 
to  gladden  the  waiting  world. 

Christianity  will  stand  all  this  controversy.  It  was 
made  to.  It  is  not  only  the  wisdom  and  the  love,  but 
the  power  of  God,  and  that  endures  and  triumphs.  It 
needs  of  itself  no  alteration.  While  it  can  suit  itself 
to  all  the  shifting  phases  of  human  history,  it  is  of  itself, 
like  its  author,  "  without  variableness  or  shadow  of 
turning."  It  has  the  same  fulness  and  adaptiveness 
now  that  it  ever  had.     Says  Rev.  Mr.  Spurgeon :  — 

"  Men  in  the  days  of  Whitfield  looked  back  to  the  days  of 
Bunyan,  and  men  in  the  days  of  Bunyan  wept  because  of  the 
da}'s  of  Wyckliffe,  Calvin,  and  Luther ;  and  men  then  wept 
for  the  days  of  Augustine  and  Chrysostom  ;  men  in  those 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK.  321 

days  wept  for  the  days  of  the  apostles  ;  and  doubtless  men  in 
the  apostles'  days  wept  for  the  days  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and,  no 
doubt,  some  in  the  days  of  Jesus  Christ  were  so  blind  as  to 
wish  to  return  to  the  days  of  prophecy,  and  thought  more  of 
the  days  of  Elijah  than  they  did  of  the  most  glorious  days  of 
Christ.  Some  men  look  more  to  the  past  than  to  the  present. 
Rest  assured  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  same  that  he  was  yes- 
terday, and  will  be  the  same  forever." 

Verily  so ;  and  what  he  is,  it  is  our  business  in  the 
present  to  ascertain.  How  much  of  his  fulness  may  we 
now  be  able  to  comprehend  ? 

And  so  again  we  say,  "  the  world  moves,"  the  church 
moves,  the  spirit  of  the  All-wise  and  Almighty  is  mov- 
ing upon  the  heart  of  humanity.  Man  advances.  This 
is  the  Divine  process.  For  long  centuries  there  may  be 
but  little,  comparatively,  accomplished ;  then  a  new 
activity  will  be  realized.  We  do  not  expect  to  go  back 
to  the  Dark  Ages  again.  The  very  last  half-century, 
as  we  have  seen,  has  been  more  marked  with  progress 
than  any  other  before  in  the  world's  history.  Our  own 
nation  has  given  signal  evidence  of  this.  Our  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  has  an  increased  luminousness  at 
the  present  hour.  That  the  next  half-century  will  have 
equal  advancement,  we  are  not  sure  ;  but  all  signs  are 
hopeful  that  there  will  be  more  growth,  continued  im- 
provement. One  thing  seems  evident  in  reference  to 
our  own  nation,  which  is,  that  the  religion  of  the  Gospel 
is  needed  in  it  more  than  ever  before,  to  meet  its  in- 
creasing needs,  and  to  give  it  strength  of  character  and 
permanent  life.  Truer  words  were  never  spoken  than 
those  by  the  orator  at  the  Yorktown  Centenary  celebra- 
tion during  the  past  year  :  — 

21 


322  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

"  No  advanced  thought,  no  mystical  philosophy,  glittering 
abstractions,  no  swelling  phrases  about  freedom,  —  not  even 
science,  with  all  its  marvellous  inventions  and  discoveries,  — 
can  help  us  much  in  sustaining  this  republic.  Still  less  can 
any  Godless  theories  of  creation,  or  any  infidel  attempts  to 
rule  out  the  Redeemer  from  his  rightful  supremacy  in  our 
hearts,  afford  us  any  hope  of  security.  In  that  way  lies  de- 
spair !  Commonplace  truths,  old  familiar  teachings,  the  ten 
commandments,  the  sermon  on  the  mount,  the  farewell  ad- 
dress of  Washington,  honesty,  virtue,  patriotism,  universal 
education,  are  what  the  world  most  needs  in  these  days,  and 
our  own  part  of  the  world  as  much  as  an}'  other  part.  With- 
out these  we  are  lost.  With  these,  and  with  the  blessing  of 
God,  which  is  sure  to  follow  them,  we  may  confidently  look 
forward." l 

If  we  are  reading  the  signs  of  the  present  and  the  in- 
dications of  the  future  aright,  we  readily  conclude  that 
it  is  but  early  day  yet  in  the  history  of  humanity,  —  we 
mean  in  its  moral  and  spiritual  history.  Gross  dark- 
ness, fearful  wrong,  appalling  sin  yet  afflict  and  demean 
it.  If  we  have  the  gain  of  the  past  to  encourage  us,  if 
we  would  be  aids  in  the  world's  progress,  the  new  in- 
strumentalities of  the  present  which  we  possess  must  be 
used  as  though  we  had  full  faith  in  their  power,  that  is, 
in  the  Divine  indications  that  are  in  them.  If  the  true 
millennium  is  yet  afar  off,  it  is  advancing.  So  should 
we  be,  not  as  children  of  the  night,  nor  of  any  darkness 
of  the  past,  but  of  the  Christian  clay,  which  has  had  its 
heavenly  breaking,  and  whose  rising  bids  us  to  be  risen 
also,  and  to  be  moving  on!  We  are  debtors  to  the  past, 
how  great  we  can  never  fully  realize.     We  are  equally 

1  Oration  of  Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop  at  Yorktown,  Va.,  October  19, 
1881. 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK.  323 

debtors  to  the  future.  What  can  we  now  do  for  its 
largest  blessing,  its  permanent  life  ? 

Seeing  that  these  errors,  delusions,  and  wrongs  of  the 
past  are  to  be  dissolved,  what  is  the  work  of  the  Uni- 
versalist  Church  now  and  in  the  time  to  come  ?  The 
answer  is  ready.  It  is  to  magnify  its  office,  to  extend 
the  spirit  and  life  of  its  holy  faith.  It  is  false  to  its 
trust  if  it  fail  to  do  this.  It  is  to  advance,  "  strong  in 
the  Lord,  and  in  the  power  of  his  might."  To  boast  of 
its  grand  conceptions  of  truth,  its  reasonable  interpreta- 
tions of  the  Bible,  of  its  pre-eminence  in  any  way,  and 
still  to  have  no  quickening  power  in  the  work  it  is  called 
to  do,  is  not  to  seek  advancement  and  success,  but  to 
court  disappointment  and  failure. 

This  highly-favored  church,  then,  should  offer  to  the 
acceptance  of  the  world,  — 

1.  A  positive  faith.  At  this  peculiarly  transitional 
time  in  the  Christian  Church  history,  great  watchful- 
ness and  discrimination  are  needed  on  the  part  of  those 
who  are  regarded  by  the  majority  of  the  churches  as 
"  liberal  Christians,"  because  this  word  "  liberal "  is 
often  quite  vague  in  its  meaning  and  covers  very  many 
phases  of  belief  and  unbelief,  scepticism,  and  credulity. 
A  candid  and  able  writer  of  the  Unitarian  fraternity  has 
just  given  to  the  public  .these  very  timely  and  whole- 
some suggestions  :  — 

"  Liberal  Christians  will  make  a  fatal  mistake  if  they  dream 
of  gaining  strength  and  influence  by  statements  so  nebulous 
and  so  universally  inclusive  that  even  those  who  deny  all 
spiritualities  can  ally  themselves  with  them,  and  speak  from 
their  pulpits.  If  they  intend  to  form  a  debating  club  or  a 
school  of  philosophy,  the}-  might  naturally  and  wisely  pursue 
such  a  policy.     But  if  they  wish  to  form  a  church,  with  a  faith 


324  FIFTY  NOTABLE    YEARS. 

to  offer  to  the  world,  and  a  positive  and  definite  work  for  a 
definite  end,  such  a  course  is  self-destructive." 

"  The  effort  of  liberal  Christianity  should  have  been  to 
strengthen  the  things  that  remain.  Instead  of  that,  its  work 
has  tended  too  much  to  minimize  faith  and  to  maximize 
doubt.  Everything  has  become  the  subject  of  dissection, 
almost  nothing  the  object  of  enthusiasm  and  trust.  That  re- 
ligious bod}'  whose  supreme  function  is  criticism,  however 
skilful  it  may  be  in  special  work,  will  never  be  a  regenerating 
power  in  human  society.'' * 

Well  said.  And  this  leads  us  to  speak  directly  and 
freely  on  the  subject  of  creeds  as  connected  with  all 
Christian  churches,  and  especially  as  involving  the  pol- 
icy and  duty  of  the  so-called  Liberal  churches.  We 
know  that  at  the  present  time  many  are  cutting  them- 
selves away  from  old  creeds,  such  as  have  held  them  and 
their  ancestors  before  them  ;  when  there  is  more  reli- 
gious inquiry  abroad  than  ever  before,  and  when  it  is 
becoming  quite  fashionable  to  .speak  lightly  of  all  creeds, 
and  to  intimate  that,  on  the  whole,  the  church  and  the 
world  may  get  along  about  as  well  without  them  as  with 
them,  —  perhaps  much  better  without  them.  It  is  well, 
as  this  impatience  of  creeds  is  increasing,  "  to  think 
soberly,"  if  possible,  on  the  whole  matter. 

What  is  a  creed  ?  Let  us  "  begin  at  the  beginning," 
—  the  dictionary.  Creed  comes  from  the  Latin  credo, 
and  signifies  to  believe.  It  is  "  a  summary  of  Christian 
belief,  or  of  the  articles  of  faith.  Any  profession  of  that 
which  is  believed  ;  a  statement  of  the  articles  of  belief, 
as  the  creeds  of  political  parties."  All  religionists  have 
creeds  of  some  kind  ;  from  the  most  liberal  to  the  most 
exclusive  of  them.      Take  the  most  radical  "free  reli- 

1  I  Jew  F.  B.  Hornbrooke,  in  Unitarian  Review,  August,  1SS2. 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK.  325 

gionist "  you  can  find,  and  ask  him,  immediately  after 
}tou  have  heard  him  berating  creeds  and  adjudging  all 
as  bigots  who  would  be  bound  by  them,  what  he  be- 
lieves, and  as  surely  as  he  says  anything,  he  will  state 
to  you  what.  And  this  is  his  creed,  whether  he  calls  it 
so  or  not.  He  might  as  well  deny  that  he  has  a  head 
by  calling  it  something  else,  or  by  not  allowing  it  to 
have  any  name.  A  creed  he  has,  if  he  believes  any- 
thing.    The  same  of  all  men. 

What,  then,  is  the  objection  to  creeds  ?  Why,  that 
the  Church  has  been  full  of  bad  creeds,  narrow  creeds, 
unreasonable  creeds,  contradictory  creeds,  creeds  dis- 
honorable to  God  and  to  humanity.  There  is  no 
doubt  of  this;  and  the  evil  still  abounds.  But  what 
then  ?  Away  with  all  creeds  ?  You  cannot  do  it.  A 
creed  you  will  have,  at  last,  after  all  you  have  thought 
and  said  and  done  against  having  one.    It  is  inevitable. 

Most  of  the  creeds  of  the  Church,  for  centuries  past, 
have  contained  doctrines  revolting  to  the  common  sense 
and  to  the  holiest  affections  of  mankind.  The  Church 
and  the  world  are  outgrowing  them,  and  they  must  be 
put  away.  There  will  be  no  rest  nor  peace  for  those 
who  hold  and  defend  them  until  they  are  put  away. 
But  what  more  ?  Will  there  be  nothing  instead  of 
these  falsehoods,  in  the  forms  of  human  creeds?  Are 
there  no  teuths  to  take  the  place  of  them  ?  Every 
reasonable  mind  concludes  that  there  are.  Better  views 
of  God  and  man  will  be  taken,  more  reasonable  and 
scriptural  doctrines  will  be  accepted,  and  these  will  go 
to  make  up  the  new  creeds.  If  these  new  creeds  have 
errors  in  them,  then  there  will  be  new  siftings  in  the 
controversies  that  will  be  continued  on  the  old  apostolic 
principle,  "Prove  all  things;  hold  fast  that  which  is 


326  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

good."  Notice  ;  to  be  continually  questioning  is  not  the 
great  object  of  Christian  investigation.  There  is  some- 
thing to  be  held  fast.  It  is  that  truth  which  will  com- 
mend itself  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of 
God.  This  will  constitute  the  perfected  Christian  creed 
at  last,  just  as  surely  as  that  "  every  knee  shall  bow, 
and  every  tongue  confess  that  Jesus  is  Lord,  to  the 
glory  of  God  the  Father." 

Because  the  churches  have  not  yet  the  right  creed 
is  no  reason  why  they  may  not  be  seeking  for  it,  and 
may  not  one  day  find  and  adopt  it.  We  do  not  mean, 
of  course,  that  all  minds  can  be  alike,  but  that  all  minds 
will  unite  in  acknowledging  certain  truths,  such  as  the 
Divine  Paternity,  the  Human  Brotherhood,  the  neces- 
sity of  personal  holiness,  the  divine  and  human  mission 
of  Jesus,  the  immortality,  holiness,  and  happiness  of 
mankind.  If  these  are  truths,  as  we  believe  they  are, 
they  will  constitute  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  Christian 
creeds  of  the  churches. 

To  what,  then,  does  this  sweeping  denunciation  of 
creeds  amount?  May  not  much  of  it  be  of  very  ques- 
tionable utility  and  soundness  ?  We  know  that  good 
and  wise  men  talk  thus.  But  are  good  and  great  men, 
even,  always  sure  of  being  right  in  their  statements  and 
conclusions  ?  One  of  our  distinguished  public  men,  Mr. 
Wendell  Phillips,  said  in  his  discourse  on  "  Christianity 
a  battle,  not  a  Dream,"  that  the  New  Testament  was 
nothing  but  the  New  Testament,  and  that  "  nothing 
like  a  creed  could  be  tortured  out  of  it,  —  nothing  like 
Universalism,  Catholicism,  or  Unitarianism."  We  have 
as  little  faith  in  the  torturing  process  as  he ;  but  we 
utterly  deny  that  a  Universalist  creed  cannot  be  clearly 
and  undeniably  found    in  the  New   Testament.      We 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK.  327 

have  already  stated  a  part  of  it.  If  the  Fatherhood 
of  God,  the  Brotherhood  of  the  race,  the  unceasing 
obligation  of  man  to  love  God  and  his  fellow-creatures, 
the  lordship  and  mission  of  Christ  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  the  immortality  of  all  mankind,  are  not  positive 
doctrines  of  the  New  Testament,  then  no  doctrines,  no 
precepts,  no  principles  can  be  proved  from  it.  This  is 
the  very  question  at  issue  between  Universalists  and 
those  who  deny  that  their  faith  has  its  foundations  in 
the  New  Testament.  We  are  ready  to  stand  on  this 
issue  with  all  who  will  meet  us  there  as  honest  inquirers 
after  truth. 

A  gifted  and  highly  honored  member  of  the  frater- 
nity of  Friends  took  occasion  some  time  since  to  speak 
lightly  of  an  attempt  on  their  part  to  "  tinker  a  creed  " 
for  themselves.  And  why  might  they  not  do  it?  If 
not  satisfied  with  their  present  statement  of  faith  they 
have  a  right  to  search  for  that  which  will  enable  them 
to  make  a  better  one.  Tinkering !  What  are  we  all 
doing  in  our  investigations  and  conclusions  but  just 
this?  Rather  poor  workmen,  most  of  us;  but  here,  in 
this  great  workshop  God  has  given  us,  we  have  a  right 
to  keep  hammering  and  welding  away,  —  a  right  and  a 
duty  to  see  how  perfect  a  piece  of  work  we  may  show 
as  the  result  of  our  patient  and  persistent  labor.  New- 
ton deemed  himself  but  a  picker-up  of  pebbles,  while 
the  great  ocean  of  truth  lay  all  unexplored  before  him. 
Our  best  searching  will  only  give  us  indications  of  that 
truth  which  is  infinite.  Yet  this  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  not  be  looking  for  it,  and  stating  it  when  we 
think  we  have  found  it.  God  will  accept  even  our 
homeliest  work,  when  honestly  done. 

"  When  done  beneath  his  laws, 
Even  servile  labors  shine." 


328  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

So,  in  reason's  name,  do  not  let  ns  be  afraid  of  "tin- 
kering" on  creeds,  any  more  than  we  should  be  ashamed 
to  be  diggers,  hammerers,  furnace-workers  and  explorers 
in  the  fields  of  science.  Truth  will  come  of  it  all ;  truth 
that  shall  be  worked  into  a  good  creed  at  last. 

Universalists  have  a  creed.  Its  articles,  we  believe,  are 
reasonable  and  uncontradictoiy,  commending  themselves 
to  the  clearest  intellect  and  to  the  holiest  affections  of 
mankind.  Their  principal  creed  or  "  Confession  "  is  a 
short  one,  yet  remarkably  comprehensive.  It  can  be 
and  is  enlarged,  and  in  this  form  adopted  in  many  of 
the  churches.  The  world  asks  what  Universalists  be- 
lieve. They  have  been  in  existence  as  a  sect  long 
enough  to  tell  them ;  and  ought  to  be  in  readiness  to 
do  this.  Yea,  anxious  to  do  it,  because  of  their  convic- 
tions of  the  need  of  this  truth  in  the  understandings 
and  hearts  of  men.  Our  Unitarian  neighbors  have  been 
much  troubled  with  the  fact  that  many  of  their  own 
people,  especially  their  younger  ones,  have  not  known 
what  Unitarians  believed,  —  what  were  the  articles  or 
doctrinal  statements  of  their  creed.  Just  one  thing, 
surely,  that  they  and  others  ought  to  know.  If  Uni- 
versalists have  had  any  defect  of  this  kind,  it  should 
cease  to  be  with  them,  especially  if  they  have  definite 
convictions  of  Christian  doctrines  such  as  the  Divine 
Paternity,  the  Brotherhood  of  Man,  Christ,  the  Holy 
Spirit,  Regeneration,  Retribution,  Forgiveness,  Atone- 
ment, Salvation,  Immortality.  If  they  have  not  definite 
convictions  respecting  them,  let  them  say  so,  honestly, 
as  in  the  hearing  of  all  men.  Otherwise,  let  them  have 
a  positive  creed  to  state  and  defend. 

A  positive  creed,  we  say.  For,  to  have  a  creed  made 
up  of  statements  that  are  questionable  in  the  minds  of 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK.  329 

its  defenders,  is  to  have  anything  but  a  New  Testament 
—  a  truly  Christian  creed.  The  Apostles  had  no  such 
creed.  Their  creed  reads  thus :  "  To  us  there  is  one 
God,  the  Father,  of  whom  are  all  things,  and  we  by 
Him.  —  Christ  is  made  unto  us  wisdom,  righteousness, 
sanctification  and  redemption.  —  Now  is  Christ  risen, 
and  become  the  first  fruits  of  them  that  slept. —  God  will 
have  all  men  to  be  saved  and  to  come  unto  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth.  God  shall  be  all  in  all."  With 
them  these  were  not  questions  open  for  self-settlement 
in  their  minds,  but  truths  of  which  they  were  thoroughly 
convinced,  and  in  the  promulgation  of  which  they  were 
most  thoroughly  in  earnest.  This  is  the  Christian  minis- 
try now  needed,  not  a  ministry  made  up  of  inquirers  and 
sceptics  mainly,  who  are  "  ever  learning  and  never  able 
to  come  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth,"  but  of  those  who 
have  settled  convictions  of  what  the  truth  of  God  is, 
and  who  are  in  readiness  to  state  and  maintain  a  creed 
which  they  believe  to  be  every  way  in  accordance  with 
reason,  with  the  Scriptures,  and  in  answer  to  the  most 
earnest  and  anxious  inquiries  of  the  human  soul. 

"But  creeds  are  binding,"  says  one.  Of  course  they 
are  if  we  believe  them  to  be  the  truth,  and  are  truthful 
ourselves  in  the  acceptance  and  use  of  them.  But  liow 
are  creeds  binding?  Erroneous,  evil  creeds  bring  the 
souls  who  hold  them  into  bondage.  We  understand  this. 
But  what  about  true  and  good  creeds  ?  It  appears  to 
us  that  these  give  liberty,  aye,  the  largest  liberty.  Jesus 
says,  "  Ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall 
make  you  free,"  Who  says,  in  the  light  of  this  state- 
ment, that  the  truth  of  Christ  adopted  in  a  creed  tends 
to  bondage?  God's  truth,  dear  reader,  is  binding  on 
you,  and  on  us  all,  according  to  our  convictions  of  it. 


330  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

What  freedom  do  you  desire  ?  That  which  will  give 
you  indulgence  in  perpetual  scepticism,  unsettlement 
in  regard  to  anything  ?  Call  you  this  liberty  ?  We 
regard  it  as  about  the  worst  of  bondage  ;  because  we 
are  thus  in  uncertainty  ;  we  have  no  permanent  hab- 
itation in  God's  love  and  life.  We  have,  indeed,  the 
poor  liberty  of  an  outcast,  but  not  that  of  "  a  child  at 
home."  This  last  is  a  liberty  which  a  creed  embracing 
Christian  truth  will  allow  us.  We  want  no  greater. 
It  will  help  us  in  all  our  interpretations  of  God  and 
His  works  and  ways  in  the  universe  which  is  open  be- 
fore us. 

Two  considerations,  then,  we  may  bear  in  mind ;  one 
is,  that  of  the  reasonableness  and  propriety  of  Christian 
creeds.  This  indiscriminate  denunciation  of  them  is 
not  wise.  It  is  one  of  the  flurries  of  the  present  age, 
but  will  not  endure  the  long  run  of  theological  investi- 
gation. Creeds  may  not  all  be  written,  but  they  will 
exist,  even  with  those  who  denounce  them.  The  logic 
of  fact  and  human  experience  effectually  settles  this, 
so  that  a  further  superfluity  of  breath  on  this  subject 
does  not  seem  to  be  really  needed.  A  faith  in  the  un- 
seen that  is  most  in  accordance  with  nature,  human 
intuitions,  sound  philosophy,  and  the  Word  of  God,  is 
the  one  after  which  all  souls  may  rightfully  seek. 

Next,  of  the  Universalist  creed,  let  us  understand  that 
it  is  not  only  a  theological  affirmation,  but  a  constant 
teacher  of  the  most  thorough  virtue,  —  a  call  to  the 
purest,  highest,  and  most  heavenly  life.  The  Univer- 
salist Church  needs  nothing  so  much  as  to  be  vitalized 
by  its  spirit ;  the  world  needs  nothing  more  than  this 
vitality  for  its  present  salvation. 

2.   And  this  leads  us  to  speak,  briefly,   of  the  true 


THE  PRESENT   OUTLOOK.  331 

Christian  life  which  this  Church  should  seek  to  com- 
mend to  the  world.  Here  is  the  Apostle's  direction 
which  opens  to  us  most  clearly  the  practical  influence 
of  the  faith  of  the  gospel :  "  For  the  grace  of  God  that 
bringeth  salvation  to  all  men  hath  appeared,  teaching 
us  that,  denying  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  we 
should  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  this  pres- 
ent world."  1  It  is  the  indwelling  heavenly  love,  the 
love  which  Christianity  is  ever  indicating  and  proving, 
that  will  find  its  expression  in  the  true  Christian  be- 
liever. It  is  the  practical  interpretation  of  that  text 
from  John,  "  We  love  him  because  he  first  loved  us."2  It 
is  the  faith  with  works,  proving  its  spiritual  vitality. 
It  is  at  war  with  sin  and  wrong  ;  it  comprehends  the 
scriptural  statement,  "  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  to  hate 
evil."  And  it  realizes  how  evil  is  to  be  overcome  and 
put  away.  It  aims  to  live  here  and  now  as  it  becomes 
the  soul  born  of  God  to  live,  "  soberly,  righteously, 
godly."  What  words  more  expressive  of  its  life  can 
be  given?  They  sum  up  the  whole  of  the  Christian 
life. 

This  religion  which  the  Christian  Gospel  recommends 
is  reverential  and  worshipful.  The  flippant  inquiry  of 
atheism  of  olden  or  modern  time,  "  What  is  the  Al- 
mighty that  we  should  pray  to  him  or  serve  him  ?  "  it 
answers,  rationally  and  emphatically,  "  The  Lord  he  is 
God ;  serve  him  with  gladness ;  for  he  is  good,  his 
mercy  is  everlasting,  and  his  truth  endureth  to  all  gen- 
erations." Worship  is  the  natural  utterance  of  the  true 
believer  as  he  looks  upward  to  the  Father.  Forms  of 
worship  are  means  by  which  his  adoration  finds  expres- 
sion.    Monotony,  routine,  repetitions,  drony  formality, 

1  Titus,  ii.  11,  12.  2  i  John)  iv.  19. 


332  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

will  not  be  in  the  offering,  for  the  reason  that  his  whole 
soul  is  seeking  Gocl,  and  finds  the  enjoyment  of  his  holy 
presence  and  ineffable  light. 

This  religion  is  affectional  and  emotional.  It  is  intel- 
lect awakened  into  love  ;  it  is  sober  thought  seeking 
most  earnest  expression  ;  it  is  logic  on  fire.  Those  who 
have  no  taste  for  the  emotional  in  religion  have  only  a 
partial  conception  of  the  most  effective  expression  which 
the  Christian  religion  seeks,  and  in  which  it  may  prop- 
erly and  profitably  indulge.  The  needy,  empty-souled, 
impulsive  world-masses  are  not  to  be  reached  and  warmed, 
uplifted  and  inspired,  by  clearly  exact  and  well-stated 
and  well-worked-out  theological  problems.  The  multi- 
plication table  is  true  and  useful,  but  we  do  not  look 
for  any  spiritual  inspiration  in  it.  The  religion  that 
has  most  blessed  the  world  is  a  religion  that  appeals  to 
and  draws  out  the  affections ;  that,  while  it  repudiates 
imprudent  zeal  and  fanaticism,  insists  on  that  earnestness 
which  everywhere  meets  us  in  the  New  Testament  Gos- 
pels and  apostolic  records  and  epistles  ;  which  reaches 
men's  hearts  and  convinces  them  of  their  need  of  heav- 
enly aid  ;  awakens  the  question  asked  by  the  converted 
soul,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?  "  and  real- 
izes the  significance  of  those  apostolic  declarations,  "  Be 
filled  with  the  spirit,  speaking  to  yourselves  in  psalms 
and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  singing  and  making  mel- 
ody in  your  hearts  unto  God  the  Lord  ;  giving  thanks 
always  for  all  things  unto  the  Father,  in  the  name  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ."  All  this  signifies  living  interest, 
fervor  of  spirit,  emotional,  wakeful  expression. 

This  religion  is,  moreover,  eminently  practical.  It  is 
not  only  ready  to  say,  "  Lord,  Lord !  "  but  to  do  the 
Lord's  work  as  well.     It  forecloses  this  inconsiderate 


THE  PRESENT  OUTLOOK.  333 

criticism  sometimes  heard,  "Why  all  this  wordy  dem- 
onstration and  noise  about  religion  ?  Good  works  are 
of  a  thousand  times  more  avail ;  the  best  religion  is  to 
do  good."  True,  indeed,  and  this  is  what  Christianity 
is  constantly  teaching.  No  one  taught  it  more  forcibly 
than  Jesus  himself.  The  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan 
is  emphatic  on  this  point,  that  the  reputed  unbeliever 
who  did  good  was  worthy  of  more  praise  than  the  most 
punctilious  professor  of  religion  who  was  deficient  in 
the  essentials  of  the  Christian  kingdom,  —  Justice, 
Mercy,  and  Love.  "  What  doth  it  profit,  though  a  man 
say  he  have  faith  and  have  not  works  ?  Can  faith  save 
him  ?  For  as  the  body  without  the  spirit  is  dead,  so 
faith  without  works  is  dead  also."1  But  good  works 
do  not  exclude  these  other  manifestations  of  the  true 
religion.  "  These  ought  ve  to  have  done,  and  not  to 
leave  the  other  undone." 

3.  Once  more  :  this  religion  is  reformatory  and  pro- 
gressive. Reformation  and  progress  are  words  always  in- 
dicative of  the  Christian  dispensation  with  man  ;  the  call 
to  holiness  and  the  response  to  it,  growth  in  God's  grace, 
new  achievements,  —  never  resting  in  present  attain- 
ments, but  ever  striving  with  fresh  inspiration  for  new 
accomplishments  in  the  heavenly  course.  Most  reli- 
gions (especially  under  the  Christian  name)  have  some 
of  these  characteristics ;  but  the  religion  nearest  to  that 
which  Christ  taught  and  exemplified  will  have  them  all. 
To  secure  the  highest  blessings  of  the  Christian  king- 
dom, the  churches  must  be  based  on  the  principles,  and 
conform  to  the  requirements,  of  this  kingdom.  The 
Universalist  Church  must.  Its  true  prosperity  has  been 
and  will  be  in  accordance  with  its  fidelity  in  this  partic- 

1  James,  ii.  14,  26. 


334  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

ular.     One  of  its  earnest  preachers  of  the  present  time 

has  truly  said  :  — 

"  Opinions  as  faith  will  never  serve  to  build  up  any  Chris- 
tian character.  There  is  not  a  saved  soul  in  any  paradise 
anywhere  which  was  ever  saved  by  any  opinion.  It  is  only 
when  opinions  become  faith — become  rooted  forces  of  the 
soul —  that  they  have  any  effect."  1 

It  should  have  the  Christian  missionary  inspiration 
and  action,  should  open  its  eyes  to  the  magnitude  and 
glory  of  the  missionary  outlook  which  no  faith  short  of 
that  of  Christian  Universalism  presents  to  every  lover 
of  this  humanity  now  groaning  in  bondage,  and  waiting 
"for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God."  It  should 
rise  to  a  new  and  grander  conception  than  has  been 
realized  by  those  who  have  borne  to  souls  in  the  dark- 
ness of  heathenism  the  limited  doctrines  of  human  wis- 
dom. "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature."  To  no  other  church  in 
Christendom  does  this  great  text  of  the  ages  speak  more 
explicitly  than  to  the  Universalist.  It  has  the  truth  of 
the  Human  Brotherhood,  which  all  the  world  should 
understand  and  embrace,  for  which  all  heathendom  is 
waiting,  and  to  which  in  the  long  run  it  will  come  if 
this  favored  church  is  true  to  its  heavenly  calling.  That 
it  may  be  thus  true,  it  is  not  to  deceive  itself  with  any 
false  ideas  of  the  leavening  process  which  is  to  go  on  in 
other  churches,  while  it  is  inclined  to  do  the  least  and 
not  the  most  to  keep  the  leaven  in  healthy  and  constant 
operation.  When  Rev.  Otis  A.  Skinner  was  canvassing 
New  England  to  raise  the  first  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars  for  Tufts  College,  he  was  met  with  such  sugges- 

1  Rev.  James  Pullman,  D.  D. 


THE  PRESENT   OUTLOOK.  335 

tions  as  this  from  certain  ones  who  professed  friendli- 
ness to  the  success  of  his  movements:  "Is  it  really 
necessary  to  make  this  attempt  to  build  a  new  college? 
Why  not  keep  quiet,  and  wait  until  the  time  comes 
when  Harvard  College  will  fall  into  our  hands  ?  "  Sup- 
posing such  short-sightedness  and  apathy  had  prevailed, 
where  would  Tufts  College  with  all  its  benefits  have 
been  to-day  ?  Universalists  should  be  about  their  own 
church  missionary  business.  It  is  theirs,  and  no  others 
are  called  upon  to  do  it  for  them.  Dr.  Edward  Beecher, 
in  his  "  Records  of  the  Church  in  the  Third  Century," 
—  many  of  whose  members  were  avowed  believers  in 
the  final  reconciliation  of  all  souls,  —  states  that  they 
were  among  the  most  zealous  and  devoted  Christians  of 
that  age  in  personal  piety  and  in  active  missionary 
labors.  They  sent  out  the  Gospel  to  the  remotest  shores 
of  the  then  known  world.  Here  is  the  same  world  to  be 
reached  by  the  messengers  of  this  very  Gospel  to-day. 
"  How  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher  ?  and  how 
shall  they  preach  except  they  be  sent  ?  "  No  corner  of 
the  earth  is  exempt  from  the  benefits  of  this  message  ; 
no  means  should  be  left  unemployed  to  send  it  forth. 
Are  Universalists  acquainted  as  the}'  might  be  with  the 
missionary  work  that  has  been  already  done  by  the  other 
churches  around  them  ?  Are  they  familiar  with  their 
reports  and  other  publications  involving  the  missionary 
enterprise,  showing  what  good  they  have  accomplished 
in  opening  the  Christian  Scriptures  and  aiding  a  Chris- 
tian civilization  in  other  lands  ?  Do  they  realize  that  if 
these  missionaries  have  propagated  errors  in  theology, 
they  have  cleared  the  way  in  part  for  a  better  dispensa- 
tion of  Divine  Truth  by  the  translations  of  the  Bible 
into  other  languages,  which  they  have  made  ?     These 


336  FIFTY  NOTABLE   YEARS. 

are  important  considerations,  and  Universalists  will  do 
well  to  act  upon  them. 

As  the  Lord  liveth,  the  now  "  open  questions  "  will 
one  day  be  settled,  and  settled  on  the  side  of  the  Divine 
Beneficence.  The  love  of  God  in  Christ  has  come  into 
the  world,  and  will  not  go  out  of  it  until  its  work  is 
here  done  ;  love  that  is  long-suffering,  that  rejoiceth 
not  in  iniquity,  but  rejoiceth  in  the  truth ;  that  bear- 
eth,  believeth,  hopeth,  and  endureth  all  things,  and 
that  never  faileth ;  love  that  will  bring  the  last  lost  one 
home,  that  will  obliterate  all  the  hells,  and  people  all  the 
heavens  in  the  universe. 


University  Press  :  John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge. 


